SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – The connections of Maram and Phola felt their fillies were compromised by the lack of pace when they finished fifth and sixth, respectively, in last month’s Grade 1 Diana.

With seemingly more pace and without having to face the likes of Proviso, Shared Account and Forever Together – the top three finishers from the Diana – Maram and Phola could stage a stretch duel to the wire in Saturday’s Grade 2, $200,000 Ballston Spa Stakes at Saratoga. A field of 10 was entered for the Ballston Spa, scheduled for 1 1/16 miles on the inner turf course.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. − Informed Decision is generally thought of as a synthetic-track freak, but trainer Jonathan Sheppard is confident his champion mare can also handle conventional dirt well enough to win the $250,000 Ballerina, one of three Grade 1 races on Saturday’s Travers day program at Saratoga.

DEL MAR, Calif.-Scenic Blast is trying something new with each start this summer.

He was fourth in the Robert Kerlan Handicap for turf sprinters at Hollywood Park in June, and second in the Grade 1 Bing Crosby Stakes for sprinters on Del Mar’s synthetic main track on Aug. 1.

For Saturday’s $250,000 Del Mar Mile, Scenic Blast will start again on turf and over a distance that equals the longest race of his 23-race career. “We’re trying to find a niche for him where he can distinguish himself,” trainer John Shirreffs said.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – The question going into Thursday’s $100,000 New York Turfwriters Cup Steeplechase Handicap at Saratoga was not if trainer Jonathan Sheppard would win the race but which of his three evenly matched jumpers would come out on top.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Owner Bruno Schickedanz, who has been banned from stabling or entering horses at Woodbine, had his request for temporary reinstatement denied at an Ontario Racing Commission hearing on Thursday. The ORC appeals panel, headed by chairman Rod Seiling, did not provide an immediate explanation for its decision but said that written notice would follow.

Taptam will try to return to her winning ways Saturday afternoon, when nine talented older fillies and mares contest the $100,000 Wigwam, the sixth race on a nine-race card at Hoosier Park.

Down With Dixie will try to take out one of the south’s best 3-year-olds on Saturday, when he meets six-time stakes winner Coyote Legend in the Prelude at Louisiana Downs.

The mile and a sixteenth race is worth $100,000 and change, the lagniappe being a fees-paid berth into the Grade 2, $500,000 Super Derby on Sept. 25 for the winner. The incentive is valued at $8,500.

Gourmet Dinner is perfect in two starts, including a victory in the Dr. Fager Stakes, the first leg of the open division of the Florida Stallion Stakes. Awesome Feather is perfect in three starts, her most recent victory coming in the Desert Vixen division of the Stallion series.

On Saturday, the two leaders of their divisions will be heavily favored when they headline Calder’s Juvenile Showcase program. The entire 13-race card consists of 2-year-old races, including the middle legs of the Stallion Stakes, the $100,000 Affirmed and Susan’s Girl Stakes.

ALTOONA, Iowa – Prairie Meadows hosts a second night of Quarter Horse Challenge races on Saturday. The three stakes are qualifiers for the 2010 Challenge Championships to be held Nov. 20 at Fair Grounds.

In the $27,270 Merial Distaff Challenge, nine fillies and mares will sprint 400 yards. Ed Ross Hardy sends out four fresh entrants. “Pretty much we’ve been prepping for this,” said Hardy.

DEL MAR, Calif. – It would be hard to imagine a more emotionally draining month than one experienced by trainer Jerry Hollendorfer this August. He looked on helplessly as the top mare in his barn, Tuscan Evening, dropped dead, likely from a heart attack, after a work at Del Mar. Just 13 days later, he watched on television as the horse Tuscan Evening had beaten in a key prep race, Eclaire de Lune, won the Beverly D.