OLDSMAR, Fla. - Home-field advantage for horses that train and race over this somewhat tiring surface often plays a critical role in the crucial stages of races here, and having a jockey who knows the surface and how to ride over it can also be a big advantage.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - This Ones for Phil and Notonthesamepage, the two fastest 3-year-olds in the country according to the Beyer Speed Figures, were a contrast in styles when turning in their final preps for their much-anticipated confrontation in Saturday's $250,000 Fountain of Youth at Gulfstream Park.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. Neither distance, nor delay, nor lack of pace could stay Weathered from her appointed visit with the Aqueduct winner s circle in Saturday s $70,695 Rare Treat Stakes at Aqueduct.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Now that's more like it.

After barely shading 1:05 for five furlongs in a workout here last Sunday, Beethoven looked more like the horse who won the Gradeo2 Kentucky Jockey Club in his 2-year-old finale when he came right back and breezed the same distance in 1:01.65 on Friday morning.

Penn National Race Course has doubled the purse for its oldest and most prestigious stakes as part of a beefed-up open stakes schedule for 2009.

The Pennsylvania Governor's Cup Handicap, a five-furlong grass race that will be contested for the 37th time on Aug. 1, will now be worth $200,000.

The track also boosted the purse of the Jenny Wade Handicap, a five-furlong turf sprint for fillies and mares on July 31, by $40,000 to $100,000 and added three new six-furlong stakes.

One Caroline finally had to work a bit to get the job done, but in the end the result was the same. It was the fourth straight victory for the undefeated filly, who fought off Swift Temper before posting a one-length decision in Friday's $100,000 Sabin at Gulfstream Park.

After leaving the one-mile chute in the Grade 3 Sabin, One Caroline was in front early as expected but was taken back and angled out near the middle of the track by jockey Edgar Prado.

Thirty-five stakes worth $2,015,000 will be run during the upcoming 91-day Emerald Downs meeting in Auburn, Wash., which runs from April 17 through Sept. 27.

The 74th running of the Grade 3, $300,000 Longacres Mile on Aug. 16 highlights the stakes schedule. The only graded stakes in the Northwest, it annually attracts many of the West Coast's top milers. It will be a Win and You're In race for the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile for the second straight year. Locally based Wasserman won the Mile last year.

ARCADIA, Calif. - In the hands of just about anyone else, Rail Trip would have been on the fast track to the Santa Anita Handicap following another comfortable allowance win Friday at Santa Anita. But as easy as this most recent win was, his fourth without a defeat, trainer Ron Ellis and co-owner Samantha Siegel face something far more difficult now, the decision on whether to come back in just 15 days for the Santa Anita Handicap. They seemed inclined to pass.

NEW ORLEANS - Off since running second in the Fitz Dixon Cotillion Stakes in September at Philadelphia Park, champion filly Proud Spell is edging ever closer to beginning her 4-year-old campaign, turning in a second tune-up work on Feb. 16, going four furlongs in 50.20 seconds at Fair Grounds.

"It was more of a leg stretcher," said Cindy Jones, assistant to her husband, Larry Jones. "She started out slow and finished running, just the way we wanted."

Winter racing and the occasional cancellation go hand in hand. Two years ago, Turfway Park saw eight cancellations, and after most of a nine-race card was scrapped Thursday, the count reached six for the 2009 winter-spring meet.