VANCOUVER, British Columbia - Trainer Blaine Wright showed a lot of patience when he was at the Washington summer yearling sale last September. He was there with owner John Maryanski, and they waited until Hip No. 100 made it to the sales ring before stepping up to the plate.

Their patience paid off. Wright, Maryanski and his wife, Janene, bought Newfound Man for $36,000, and the colt appears to have a bright future. Newfound Man is a contender in the $50,000 River Rock Resort Stakes for 2-year-olds at Hastings on Sunday.

Ellis Park is terminal. A source of fun and frivolity for sports fans in and around the Henderson, Ky., region since 1922, the track is all but certain to close its doors for good when the last program of the 2009 meet is run Sept. 7.

GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas - At age 25, apprentice Ricky Hernandez Jr. might have launched his riding career a little later than most, but he has wasted little time making an impact this meet at Lone Star Park.

Hernandez improved his record to 5 for 26 on Thursday night when he guided Belen Cuvee to a debut win in the first race. Hernandez has also had four second-place finishes and has compiled mount earnings of $57,537. He won the first race of his career on May 21, and all of his wins have come aboard horses owned by Keith Asmussen.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. - The leap in ability the filly Well Deserved made from a maiden win on May 1 to the Cinderella Stakes on June 11 did not impress trainer David Hofmans as much as what he has seen since then.

As the summer continues, Hofmans has noticed that Well Deserved is growing up - and fast.

"She's changed," Hofmans said. "She's relaxed."

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Awesome Rhythm has made a clean sweep of the first three open distance stakes for the 3-year-old male division this season.

But Awesome Rhythm's wins in the 1 1/16-mile Wando, the 1 1/16 mile Marine, and the 1 1/8 mile Victoria Park came on Polytrack, and he will have a new surface to contend with in Saturday's Toronto Cup over 1 1/8 miles on turf.

There is no way to sugarcoat the disturbing undertones of the 2009 race meet at Ellis Park. Owner Ron Geary insists the 23-day meet that begins Saturday at the Henderson, Ky., track will be the last in the foreseeable future, the victim of grim economic reality.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Diamond Diva, the winner of the Grade 2 CashCall Mile at Hollywood Park last summer, was shipped to Kentucky on Wednesday for a lengthy break and possible retirement after a recurrence of a suspensory injury, trainer Jim Cassidy said.

Cassidy said it was unclear whether owner Three Chimneys Racing would retire 5-year-old Diamond Diva for the 2010 breeding season, sell her this fall, or put her back in training in 2010.

"She'll need another six months and they'll have to make a decision," Cassidy said.

ELMONT, N.Y. - As he prepares to run his Grade 1-winning turf horse in Saturday's Man o' War Stakes at Belmont Park, trainer Robert Ribaudo is beginning to form a plan for his Grade 1 dirt horse, and it may include a surface switch.

Keeneland Race Course on Thursday released the stakes schedule for the 2009 fall meet with several notable changes, including $275,000 in purse decreases and a new title sponsor for one of its stakes.

Nineteen stakes worth more than $5.1 million will be run at the 17-day meet, which runs Oct. 9-31 at the Lexington, Ky., track. Sixteen of those stakes are graded, including six Grade 1's, and nine are Breeders' Cup Challenge events that award automatic entry into the Nov. 6-7 Breeders' Cup at Santa Anita.

MIAMI - Reigning Eclipse Award winner Indian Blessing did not make the trip from California for the $350,000 Princess Rooney Handicap and will be scratched from the Grade 1 race, which highlights Saturday's Summit of Speed program at Calder.

Trainer Bob Baffert said Indian Blessing couldn't have been doing better but withheld his star from the Princess Rooney to avoid a potential issue with the postrace testing in the event that she won the race.