Fergal Lynch, the leading rider at Philadelphia Park this year, was banned from the track last Friday for one year after the jockey reached a plea deal with British horse racing authorities in which he admitted to holding a horse in 2004 in England, according to Pennsylvania regulators.

ELMONT, N.Y. - With Rachel Alexandra facing the boys in the $1 million Haskell at Monmouth Park on Aug. 2, the racing office here had no problem filling Saturday's Grade 1 Coaching Club American Oaks at Belmont Park, drawing a contentious field of eight.

Steve Klesaris, trainer of Oaks contender Livin Lovin, was obviously happy that Rachel Alexandra did not have the $300,000 CCA Oaks on her agenda.

"Obviously the objective was to be somewhere where she wasn't," Klesaris said. "I think that's everybody's objective."

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. - Two weeks away from Arlington's Aug. 8 International Festival of Racing, the Arlington Million is coming together with a very solid core, while the annual international contingent for Arlington's three Grade 1 grass races is beginning to take shape.

GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas - Trainer Joe Petalino will be running some of the best 2-year-olds in his barn over the final three days of the Lone Star Park meet. Sophanda is up first in Friday night's third race, a maiden special weight at 7 1/2 furlongs on turf. Lone Star Cowboy is set to run Sunday, in the closing-day $75,000 Middleground Stakes. And sometime in between those two races, Petalino hopes to find a spot for Cosmo Girl.

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. - The featured ninth race on Friday at Arlington Park is a turf race. What makes it especially difficult to decipher is the lack of turf horses.

Eleven were entered in the main body of this third-level allowance race also open to $62,500 claimers - Ripe Tomato will run only on the main track, and can contend if she does. And those 11 have combined to win an underwhelming five grass races. A mare named Goldinthepocket is the established turf star - she's managed to win a whopping two grass races from seven tries.

VANCOUVER, British Columbia - Going into the 2008 B.C. Cup, Against the Sky was just your average claiming horse. The last thing in trainer Craig MacPherson's mind was the idea of running her in the B.C. Cup Distaff. Instead, MacPherson entered her against colts and geldings in the B.C. Cup Starter, which is restricted to horses that had started for an $8,000 claiming price in the past two years. Against the Sky scored an easy 4 1/4-length win over Chivago, and then proceeded to run off three more wins, culminating with a score in the Grade 3 Ballerina.

Illegal Memories, a multiple Grade 1-winning Quarter Horse, will make his first start in two months Friday night in the $50,000 Ancira Ford Classic at Sam Houston Race Park. The 400-yard race is one of four stakes on the card, all restricted to Quarter Horses bred in Texas. Purses for the races total $165,000.

The venerable H.M. Johnson will return to his duties as stall superintendent as early as Sunday. Humie, as he is known throughout River Downs, has been away two weeks after undergoing a battery of tests to determine the cause of abdominal pain.

Johnson had a temporary blockage in his intestine but has been given a clean bill of health by his doctors.

A stall superintendent is responsible for allocating stalls. He also must make room for ship-ins and keep track of them as well as manage dorm rooms.

Freddie Mata broke through a three-way tie to take command of the jockeys' race at Pinnacle Race Course when he posted a riding triple Tuesday. Mata, Ricardo Barrios, and Jeffrey Skerrett had started the day tied with 29 wins.

Mata opened the card winning aboard two favorites.

Martin Brown, 64, continues to be the hardest-working man in the horse business at Evangeline Downs. The veteran rider came out of retirement several years ago and is showing no signs of slowing down. He still works diligently during training hours, and while not a force in the upper echelon of the rider standings, he has still booted home nine winners at the current meeting.