For rider Karlo Lopez, Friday nights have been a mixed blessing at Columbus this year. He has won early in the card on both Friday nights at the meet but has been taken off the track by ambulance the same night.

Mac Robertson and Bernell Rhone are both vying for the Canterbury training title with 32 wins as of Wednesday.
Robertson, who has won the training title every year since 2004, came with a reduced stable after sending 30 horses to Delaware Park this year.
“I’m surprised I’ve won as many as I have,” he said. “I came with 28 Minnesota-breds and about 15 2-year-olds out of 50 head. I’ve got one leg out the door.”
Rhone and Robertson both say they are glad to see Canterbury Park survive in the midst of a recession and with a casino just down the road.

Star Guitar will square off against eight foes Saturday night as he attempts to defend his title in the $100,000 Evangeline Mile. The reigning Louisiana-bred horse of the year, who is trained by Al Stall Jr., Star Guitar will be venturing outside the statebred ranks for the first time since a fourth place performance in the Grade 3 Lone Star Mile in late April. A 5-year-old son of Quiet American, he will also be sporting a new pilot as Jesse Campbell takes over for the recently retired Curt Bourque.

Kelly Breen was perplexed by Nacho Friend’s effort Saturday in the West Virginia Derby.

Getting third in a $750,000 race isn’t all bad. But then, Breen expected much more following Nacho Friend’s second-place finish, and career-best Beyer Speed Figure of 101, behind Trappe Shot in the Long Branch Stakes at Monmouth Park.

Nacho Friend was never a factor at Mountaineer Park, winding up 8 1/2 lengths behind 1-2 finishers Concord Point and Exhi.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. − Grand Couturier’s participation in the Grade 1 Sword Dancer Invitational has become an annual rite of summer.

Saturday, when the Sword Dancer is run for the 36th time, Grand Couturier will be making his fifth consecutive appearance in the race, run at 1 1/2 miles on turf. After finishing third in the race as a 3-year-old in 2006, his North American debut, Grand Couturier won the Sword Dancer in 2007 and 2008 and finished fifth as the favorite last year.

Stolis Winner could become Quarter Horse racing’s all-time leading earner Friday night at Sam Houston Race Park. He is set to start in the $50,000 Classic, and to break the record of $2,126,309 held by Refrigerator, he will have to win the 440-yard race. It drew 10 older horses, including Blue Louisiana Jolla, who has won his last five starts.

“It’s a very deep, very quality field,” said Heath Taylor, who trains Stolis Winner for Jerry Windham. “He’ll have to have his ‘A’ game.”

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. – Just more than a week ago, Arlington Park listed 17 horses as possible runners in the 27th Arlington Million. By Tuesday, that number had been cut almost in half.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – A win over the course, a versatile running style, and a cutback in distance could all conspire to give Interactif a slight edge in Friday’s contentious Grade 2, $150,000 National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame Stakes at Saratoga.

Six were entered to run in the Hall of Fame, provided the race remains at 1 1/8 miles over the inner turf course. Colizeo – an entrymate of Interactif – would run if forecasted rains force the race to the dirt.

The Ontario Lottery and Gaming Commission, which operates several casinos and the province’s racetrack slot machine programs, has taken the first steps toward implementing Internet gambling in the province.
The commission said in a press release that it would begin a “thorough consultation and implementation process over the next 18 months,” and that Internet gambling could be offered by 2012.
Gamblers could buy lottery tickets online and play casino games and poker.

Fair Grounds Race Course in New Orleans will host 63 stakes worth almost $6.7 million during its 2010-2011 race meet, a schedule topped by the $1 million Louisiana Derby on March 26, the Churchill Downs Inc.-owned property announced Tuesday. Fair Grounds raised the purse of the Louisiana Derby $250,000 for next year's running.