ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Trainer Ian Howard went through a quiet period after winning with three of his first six starters at the meeting.

But Howard’s fortunes appear to be taking a turn for a better after he sent out Mitasunke to win first crack out at 60-1 here Monday, had a couple of live horses set to go Thursday, and had Bogue Chitto slated to make his seasonal bow in Friday’s $91,100 Play the King prep.

Bogue Chitto was a very pleasant surprise for the Howard stable in his last campaign, which started when he won his maiden with a $30,000 claiming price in May 2009.

OCEANPORT, N.J. – Charlie Assimakopoulos is the private trainer for his family’s Yasou Stable Trust, perennially one of the most successful outfits at Suffolk Downs.

Assimakopoulos will be leaving home base Friday with the unbeaten Shoppers Return. They will hit the road for a second-level optional $40,000 claimer for fillies and mares, the $82,000 feature at Monmouth Park.

A 4-year-old, Shoppers Return did not debut until June 19 at Suffolk, where she rallied to score a two-length victory.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Quality Road, the top-ranked older horse in the country, drew post 3 when a field of six was entered on Wednesday morning in the Grade 1, $750,000 Whitney Handicap on Saturday at Saratoga.

Quality Road most recently captured the Metropolitan Mile at Belmont Park on Memorial Day. He will carry top weight of 126 pounds, conceding from 5 to 13 pounds to his rivals. He was installed as the 2-5 favorite on the morning line set by Eric Donovan of the New York Racing Association.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Owner Mike Repole is doing his best to expunge the nightmare that was his 2009 Saratoga meet.
A year after going 0 for 36 at Saratoga, Repole has won four races from 14 starters through the first 10 days of this meet, putting him tied atop the owner standings with Gary and Mary West.

Awesome Gem worked a half-mile in 48.60 seconds at Del Mar on Tuesday, his first workout since a win in the Grade 1 Hollywood Gold Cup on July 10. Awesome Gem is being pointed for the $1 million Pacific Classic at Del Mar on Aug. 28, a race in which the 7-year-old gelding was second in 2007, then seventh in both 2008 and 2009.
“He was into the bit and really worked well,” trainer Craig Dollase said of the workout.
Dollase gave Awesome Gem a few quiet weeks off training in late July in an attempt to be better prepared for the Pacific Classic.

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. – The morning-line maker at Arlington Park, Joe Kristufek, does not hesitate to assign defined favoritism to a particular horse when such a move is merited. And the fact that Kristufek made a 7-2 morning-line favorite says all one needs to know about featured race 8 on Thursday at Arlington: This entry-level turf-sprint allowance race is wide open.

A court date in the case of It’s a Bird , who was disqualified from his six-length win in last year’s Grade 2, $500,000 Oaklawn Handicap, has been set for Aug. 26 in Pulaski County Circuit Court in Little Rock, Ark., according to an official with the Arkansas Racing Commission. It’s a Bird’s connections are appealing the disqualification, which came after the horse tested positive for naproxen, a Class 4 nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory that is sold for human use under the brand name of Aleve.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – When trainer Rick Violette looked at the entries for Thursday’s Latham Stakes at Saratoga, he couldn’t believe the purse was only worth $70,000.

“The purse should be about $250,000,” said Violette, who will start Flamin’ Hot in the 5 1/2-furlong turf stakes. “It’s an incredibly competitive race. Certainly, you can make a case for about half a dozen of them.”

Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick returned a casino gaming bill back to the state legislature Monday with provisions for racetrack slot parlors stripped away, apparently killing the issue for another year.

Hours before a midnight Saturday deadline, legislators overwhelmingly passed a bill allowing three resort casinos and two slot parlors open to bidding by the state’s four racetracks. The bill was championed by House Speaker Robert DeLeo, a Democrat whose district covers Suffolk Downs and Wonderland Greyhound Park and whose father worked at Suffolk’s Turf Club.

Four graded stakes winners are among the nine 3-year-olds entered to run Saturday in the Grade 2, $750,000 West Virginia Derby at Mountaineer Park.

Some of the hottest names in racing will participate in the West Virginia Derby with that quartet: Bob Baffert and jockey Martin Garcia with Concord Point, Jerry Hollendorfer and jockey Joel Rosario with Skipshot, Steve Asmussen with Thiskyhasnolimit, and Todd Pletcher with Exhi.