LEXINGTON, Ky. - Large fields have been entered for the two graded stakes that help start the 17-day fall meet Friday at Keeneland Race Course, with 12 2-year-old fillies going in the Grade 1 Darley Alcibiades and 10 sprinters in the Grade 3 Phoenix Stakes.

LEXINGTON, Ky. - Jonathan Sheppard has accomplished more great things since he was inducted into the Racing Hall of Fame in 1990 than the vast majority of horse trainers could ever dream of in an entire career.

But even by the high standards that Sheppard, 69, has set for himself, the last couple of years have been exceptional. With horses such as Forever Together, Informed Decision, Just as Well, Winter View, and Cloudy's Knight - and those are just his runners on the flat, versus jumpers, which was what got Sheppard into the Hall - this a heady time indeed.

MIAMI - Purses at Calder will be cut 15 percent beginning with Thursday's program, and as expected, the news did not sit well with local horsemen, who have been down this road before.

ARCADIA, Calif. - With his debut against older horses looming in Saturday's $350,000 Goodwood Stakes at Santa Anita, Kentucky Derby winner Mine That Bird worked five furlongs in 1:00.20 on Tuesday.

Unlike his first workout at Santa Anita on Sept. 29, five furlongs in 1:01.80, jockey Joe Talamo gave Mine That Bird a sterner test this time.

"He picked it up, which is what I wanted," trainer Chip Woolley said. "He looked sharper in the stretch. He finished the last eighth in [11.40 seconds].

ELMONT, N.Y. - Though Gio Ponti fell short of winning his fifth consecutive Grade 1 turf race on Saturday, trainer Christophe Clement said he feels his horse has nothing left to prove on the grass. Thus, Clement and owner Shane Thomas Ryan will give Gio Ponti a new challenge by taking on some of the best horses in the world in the $5 million Breeders' Cup Classic on Nov. 7 over Santa Anita's Pro-Ride surface.

STICKNEY, Ill. - Third in the 2007 Breeders' Cup Classic and sixth in the 2008 Breeders' Cup Mile, Awesome Gem is bound for another Breeders' Cup start on the heels of his brave victory Saturday in the . The question is which one.

"We haven't mapped out a plan yet," trainer Craig Dollase said Monday. "He's definitely going to the Breeders' Cup, but we're not sure which race yet."

ARCADIA, Calif. - While the Grade 1 Norfolk Stakes on Sunday at Santa Anita established Lookin at Lucky as the Breeders' Cup Juvenile favorite, two other colts suffered injuries in the main-track race and are off the trail.

Jung Man Scott and John Scott finished in a dead heat for fourth; both sustained condylar fractures. They are sidelined until at least next year.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Pool Play looked to be behind the eight ball, coming off a first-level allowance score and facing some battle-tested stakes competitors in Sunday's .

But taking his cue from rider Patrick Husbands, Pool Play launched a five-wide bid on the far turn that carried him to a one-length score in the 1 1/8-mile Durham Cup for 3-year-olds and up.

ARCADIA, Calif. - Just before 9 a.m, Sunday, while standing among scores of horsemen and racing fans at Clocker's Corner here, trainer Mike Mitchell and jockey Garrett Gomez took a moment to review the events of Saturday's $200,000 California Cup Classic.

Gomez had turned for home with the lead on the Mitchell-trained Grazen, but quickly pulled up the colt inside the eighth pole when he felt him take a funny step. Just like that, Grazen's promising career was over with a bowed tendon.

The Big Fresno Fair begins a 10-day meet on Wednesday, and for the first time it will be the only game in town. In past years, Fresno ran concurrently with either Golden Gate Fields or Bay Meadows. But with Bay Meadows closed and Golden Gate having just completed the second of its fair meets, Fresno will be the only track running in Northern California for the next two weeks.

Tom Doutrich, racing secretary for the California Authority of Racing Fairs, said the Big Fresno Fair will benefit by not having to compete with another track for horses or the simulcast dollar.