VANCOUVER, British Columbia - Some things never change. The annual fair put on by the PNE started last weekend, and it is still impossible to walk by the mini-donut stand without grabbing a couple of bags. The idea is to eat the contents of one bag and take the other one back to Hastings, which is located on the fairgrounds, for someone else to enjoy. By the time you are halfway back to the track, you realize you are already into the second bag, so you might as well finish the donuts off.

BOSSIER CITY, La. - A pair of optional claiming events top the Louisiana Downs card Friday, with both races carrying a first-level condition accompanied by a $12,000 claiming option.

The first of Friday's co-features goes as the seventh race and is a six-furlong dash for Louisiana-bred fillies and mares. Sense of Home could be a tepid favorite off a near miss for a $16,000 claiming price against open company. She experienced traffic trouble early on the turn that day, and the race was her first in two months. Leading rider Don Simington has the call.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Tim Ice has been involved in racing long enough to know that it could have just as easily been him declaring his horse out of Saturday's $1 million Shadwell Travers Stakes on Wednesday morning as it was fellow trainer Chip Woolley.

That's why upon learning of the defection of Mine That Bird from the 140th Travers, Ice, the trainer of Belmont Stakes winner Summer Bird, said, "I can't feel good about it."

Anchored, as usual, by the Grade 1 Florida Derby, the 2010 Gulfstream Park stakes schedule was released Wednesday sporting a familiar look but with a couple of key changes in the all-important 3-year-old division. The 2010 Gulfstream meet opens on Jan. 3 and runs through April 23.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - winner Quality Road drew post 4 and was installed as the 8-5 morning-line favorite in a seven-horse field entered for Saturday's $1 million Shadwell Travers Stakes at Saratoga.

Two hours before the draw, the Travers lost winner Mine That Bird, who was not entered after his connections decided not to run the gelding 11 days after he underwent throat surgery to repair an entrapped epiglottis.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Mine That Bird is headed West.

Choosing to skip Saturday's $1 million Travers Stakes because it comes up just 11 days after Mine That Bird underwent throat surgery to repair an entrapped epiglottis, the connections of the Kentucky Derby-winning gelding will now set their sights on Santa Anita and the Grade 1, $350,000 Goodwood Stakes at Santa Anita on Oct. 10 as a prep for the $5 million Breeders' Cup Classic, also at Santa Anita on Nov. 7.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - After exhibiting confidence for a week that Kentucky Derby winner Mine That Bird would be able to make Saturday's $1 million Shadwell Travers Stakes, the connections of the Kentucky Derby winning gelding appeared to be wavering Tuesday.

Mine That Bird worked a solid five furlongs in 1:01.83 and a subsequent endoscopic examination of the gelding's throat showed no inflammation, but owner Mark Allen and trainer Chip Woolley said they would wait until entry time before making a final decision on whether to run in the Travers.

MIAMI - The concept wouldn't work at most racetracks, especially at this juncture of the summer. But at Calder, where the 2-year-old is king (and queen), Saturday's Juvenile Showcase program is just what the doctor ordered to pique interest at what otherwise is a slow part of the season around these parts.

DEL MAR, Calif. - Veteran jockey David Flores has regained the mount on Monterey Jazz for Saturday's $300,000 Del Mar Mile, replacing an injured Tyler Baze.

For Flores, the Grade 2 Del Mar Mile will be the first time he has ridden Monterey Jazz since a sixth-place finish in the at Santa Anita in February. Flores was aboard Monterey Jazz for two of the 5-year-old horse's biggest wins - the Grade 2 Strub Stakes and Grade 3 Texas Mile in early 2008.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Wise River, based at Churchill Downs with trainer Clark Hanna, checked into Woodbine last weekend for Saturday's Play the King.

The Grade 2, $200,000 Play the King, a seven-furlong turf race for 3-year-olds and upward, is the major local prep for the Grade 1, $1 million Woodbine Mile on Sept. 20.

And Hanna, who trains Wise River for owner Don Penge, is hoping that the Play the King serves exactly that purpose.