LEXINGTON, Ky. - Add another graded stakes-winning mare to Hall of Fame trainer Jonathan Sheppard's barn.

The Sheppard-trained Winter View, making her first start in stakes company since being brought to the United States from France in early 2008, unleashed a furious stretch kick to win the Grade 3, $150,000 Bewitch Stakes by two lengths before a crowd of 12,643 at Keeneland Thursday.

Her victory followed graded wins earlier in the meet for Sheppard by champion Forever Together in the Jenny Wiley and Informed Decision in the Vinery Madison.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Bear's Rocket and Shafted, both of whom ran well when facing some Kentucky Derby-bound opponents in the United States this winter, will cross swords here in Saturday's 1 1/16-mile Wando.

Prairie Meadows Racetrack got its start 20 years ago, opening its doors as Iowa's first and only racetrack in 1989. Two years later, the track filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, forcing a dark year in 1992 before racing returned the following season. But 1995 saw the introduction of 1,100 slot machines that generated revenue racing never came close to approaching, turning Prairie into a cash cow for the state of Iowa and the county of Polk.

Following a contentious 2008 racing season that everyone at Calder would just as soon forget, optimism will be running high on all fronts when the long 2009-2010 Calder season opens Friday.

A disagreement over the purse contract between track management and the Florida division of the Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association prevented Calder from sending its simulcast signal out of state for most of the 2008 campaign. The resulting decline in handle led to substantial purse cuts and even some fairly significant cutbacks in the stakes schedule.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Bob Baffert and Silverbulletday both were elected to the Racing Hall of Fame earlier this week. Ten years after winning the Kentucky Oaks with Silverbulletday, Baffert is back at Churchill Downs with a filly he said compares favorably.

"Indian Blessing is a lot like Silverbulletday," Baffert said shortly after Indian Blessing breezed five furlongs Wednesday morning at Churchill in a bullet 59.40 seconds. "She's an amazing animal."

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Trainer David Bell's barn is off to a quick start here at Woodbine, with two wins and five other in-the-money finishes from 10 starters.

Saturday, Bell will be looking to ring up his first stakes win of the season when Shadowless runs in the $150,000 Jacques Cartier, a six-furlong race for 4-year-olds and upward.

Shadowless, a 4-year-old gelding, was on the improve through the closing stages of his 3-year-old campaign and closed out with an upset win over older rivals in the Grade 3 Kennedy Road at six furlongs.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. - The way that Compari stormed down the stretch in a maiden race at Santa Anita on March 29, his connections figure a start in Saturday's $250,000 Snow Chief Stakes is a gamble worth taking.

The Snow Chief Stakes for 3-year-old statebreds will be Compari's first stakes appearance in his third career start. Owned by breeders John Harris, John Nicoletti, and Don Valpredo, and trained by Marty Jones, Compari will face a stern test.

Jamie Ness, the leading trainer at Tampa Bay Downs, will be allowed to start horses while state investigators test substances confiscated from his barn during a search on Tuesday, an official of Tampa Bay said on Wednesday.

Margo Flynn, a spokeswoman for the track, said that security guards will be posted in Ness s barn as the investigation related to the search proceeds.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. - While his primary focus is preparing Desert Party and Regal Ransom for the Kentucky Derby, Rick Mettee is also busy these days setting up the rest of Godolphin Racing's North American string.

A dozen Godolphin horses - including 2-year-old champion Midshipman and the multiple Grade 1 winner Vineyard Haven - cleared quarantine last weekend and are bedded down in Barn 4 at Belmont Park. Other Godolphin horses stabled here include Godolphin Mile one-two finishers Two Step Salsa and Gayego and the graded turf stakes winner Tam Lin.

Rodeo's Castle, now 8, has been turning up on the work tab at Will Rogers Downs in Claremore, Okla. He is scheduled to make his first start of the year at the track in the $50,000 Route 66 on May 2, said his trainer, Veronica Griggs. The race will be the first start since last June for Rodeo's Castle, a three-time stakes winner who has earned $414,766.

"We had a five-eighths work today, and he worked very well," Griggs said Wednesday, noting she caught the horse in 1:02. "He came back bouncing from the work, so he seems back real close to his old self. I'm pretty excited."