Sunland Park has never opened a meet on a higher note. Last week the track, which begins a 77-date season on Friday, was awarded Grade 3 status for its Sunland Park Derby. The race is the first graded offering for Thoroughbreds in New Mexico, and with its new status track officials said the purse will be increased from $600,000 to $800,000 when it is run on March 28.

"This has been our goal for eight years," said Harold Payne, the general manager of Sunland. "This was the purpose of the race from Day One."

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Woodbine Entertainment Group has reported a 7 percent increase in handle for the 167-day live Thoroughbred meeting which concluded last Sunday.

All-sources handled totaled $361,435,208, compared to the $337,660,570 from the 167 dates in 2008. The daily average handle this year was $2,164,282.

"We are especially proud of the healthy wagering increase on our 2009 Thoroughbred meet, as the industry is seeing a drop in betting overall," said Sean Pinsonneault, Woodbine's vice president of wagering services, in a press release.

Due to rain and high winds, Aqueduct has canceled its live card for Wednesday. The track had received 1 1/2 inches of rain by Wednesday morning and was expecting up to another half-inch to three-quarters of an inch. Winds were gusting up to 30 miles per hour.

Aqueduct will be open for simulcast and telephone wagering. Racing is scheduled to resume Thursday.

Louisiana-bred ladies, say hello to Superior Storm. And you Louisiana-bred gentlemen can introduce yourselves to Star Guitar. Do it quickly now, before they have run too far ahead.

MIAMI - Paco Lopez captured his first Meadowlands jockey title on Saturday night. He celebrated that milestone the following afternoon by engaging in one of his favorite pastimes: Riding in a Quarter Horse race.

Lopez not only rode a Quarter Horse race on Sunday, he won the opening event that day at Hialeah Park aboard a first-time starter named High Bar Jesse.

Charles Town will offer a track-record $2.8 million in purses for its 12 stakes for open company in 2010, according to a release issued by the track on Tuesday.

In the biggest change to the schedule, the purse for the second running of the 1 1/8-mile Charles Town Classic will be doubled to $1 million.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Kinsale King won his stakes debut in the Grade 3 Vernon Underwood Stakes at Hollywood Park last Sunday, leaving trainer Carl O'Callaghan wondering if the gelding can show enough progress in coming months to merit a trip to Dubai in the spring.

Tuesday, O'Callaghan, who turned 34 on Monday, said he intends to start Kinsale King in the $150,000 Palos Verdes Handicap at Santa Anita on Jan. 23 in an effort to gain a berth to the $2 million Dubai Golden Shaheen in late March.

STICKNEY, Ill. - Hawthorne Race Course has cancelled its racing programs for Wednesday and Thursday in anticipation of a winter storm's arrival in Chicago late Tuesday. Morning training also has been suspended until Friday, but the track will remain open for simulcast wagering.

As of Tuesday afternoon, the area around Hawthorne was forecast to receive 2 to 4 inches of snow, with much heavier storm totals forecast for northern Illinois and Wisconsin. Cold, blustery conditions are forecast for Thursday.

HOUSTON - Silver City, who this past spring spent time on the road to the Kentucky Derby, arrived at Sam Houston Race Park last Friday to begin preparations for a 4-year-old campaign. He has not raced since finishing fifth as the favorite in the Grade 3 Derby Trial at Churchill Downs on April 25.

Silver City emerged from that one-mile race with a suspensory injury, said his trainer, Bret Calhoun. The horse was given some time off, and has just resumed galloping. There is no specific comeback race being targeted for Silver City.

Turf Paradise scrapped its Tuesday racing program after heavy rains battered the Phoenix area all day Monday and through the night, inundating the racing surface. Live racing will resume Friday.