MIAMI - Has Benny the Bull lost a step in the one year that has passed since his victory in the 2008 Smile Sprint Handicap? Apparently not, at least in the judgment of Calder's racing secretary, Mike Anifantis, who has assigned Benny the Bull the same 124-pound assignment he carried to a two-length decision over How's Your Halo last summer when he returns to defend that title on Saturday.

VANCOUVER, British Columbia - When the nine-horse package of horses Swift Thoroughbreds bought from Darley Stable arrived at Hastings this winter, trainer Dino Condilenios maintained that Teide was the prize in the package. Teide proved Condilenios right with a powerful win in the $101,554 Lieutenant Governors on Wednesday.

The American Oaks at Hollywood Park on Sunday holds the double distinction of being the first international race of the year in America as well as one of the better betting contests held anywhere in the world this year. Although a purse cut of $300,000 to $700,000 during these difficult times has led in part to an absence of Japanese invaders, England, Ireland, and New Zealand will be represented.

ELMONT, N.Y. - The decision by the New York Racing Association to move the Man o' War from the fall to the summer continues to pay dividends.

Last year, the race attracted three Breeders' Cup winners, including 2007 Classic winner Curlin, who finished second in the Man o' War in between Breeders' Cup Turf winners Red Rocks and Better Talk Now. Curlin would eventually go on to be voted Horse of the Year.

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. - On the banks of the Guadalquivir River outside Seville, Spain, some 25,000 inhabitants of a village called Lebrija grow beets, cotton, and wheat.

On the suburban prairie around Arlington Park, one of those Lebrijans quietly has risen to seventh in the Arlington jockey standings.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Trainer Alexis Barba may hold her breath while the field is loading for Sunday's fifth race at Hollywood Park.

Her 2-year-old Make Music for Me has worked well in recent weeks, and could win his debut in the $55,000 maiden race over five furlongs for 2-year-olds. One of Barba's concerns is how Make Music for Me behaves in the gate.

"That could be a worrisome thing," she said.

Otherwise, the colt shows promise. His workouts in the last six weeks have been quick, including five furlongs in a bullet 59 seconds June 24.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Although the featured Ontario Damsel came up light, a pair of potential 3-year-old heavyweights have surfaced in an interesting spot on Sunday's program at Woodbine.

Monty's Best and Bearcatt, both trained by Reade Baker, will face fellow 3-year-old Kennisis Ridge and four older rivals in a second-level optional $62,500 claiming race at 1 1/16 miles.

OCEANPORT, N.J. - American Border held off Quiet Meadow by a head Friday to win the $70,000 Miss Liberty Stakes for fillies and mares on the turf before 10,656 at Monmouth Park.

It was a paceless race on the course rated good after an early-afternoon rain shower. Royalties dawdled along on the lead through fractions of 26.02, 52.73 and 1:17.31 with American Border closely tracking. American Border ($16.20) took a narrow lead in midstretch and 5-year-old had enough left to defeat Quiet Meadow.

Better Talk Now, the multiple Grade 1 winning 10-year-old gelding, will scratch out of Saturday's Grade 1 United Nations Handicap at Monmouth Park after injuring a splint bone in a hind leg, trainer Graham Motion said.

"I don't know that it's that serious, it's just enough to stop him from running tomorrow," Motion said Friday afternoon. "I don't want to run him if he's not 100 percent."

BOSSIER CITY, La. - Top level sprints in the Ark-La-Tex region are hard to come by in the thick of the summer months, so when a rare third-level optional claiming affair was offered for Sunday, several barns jumped at the opportunity.

The race was going to mark the long-awaited return of Foreign Production, winner of the Old Hickory Stakes over open company at Fair Grounds last November, but those plans have been put on hold by trainer James Hodges after his 3-year-old Louisiana-bred spiked a fever.