HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - The decision to shorten Sunday's Grade 1 Gulfstream Park Turf Handicap from 1 3/8 miles to 1 1/8 miles this winter returned quick dividends, with 11 entering the race, including Breeders' Cup winners Kip Deville and Red Rocks. The field is one of the strongest in recent memory.

The Gulfstream Park Turf has been a fixture here since 1986.

Kip Deville, winner of the 2007 Breeders' Cup Mile, will carry high weight of 124 pounds while looking to rebound from his ninth-place finish in the Hong Kong Mile.

Russell Road rang up his sixth straight victory, beating Great Love by 1 1/4 lengths in the $48,400 Dancing Count for 3-year-olds at Laurel Park.

Coming in off five consecutive blowout wins over West Virginia-breds at Charles Town, Russell Road led early under Travis Dunkelberger but let Great Love cut ahead of him on the backside and sat about a length behind.

Russell Road engaged the leader on the turn, and after one crack of the whip was in front by the sixteenth pole and edging away. St John's Gospel finished third.

Taking advantage of a sizeable opening along the rail, jockey Daniel Centeno sent favored Rising Fever to the front in the turn of the seven-furlong $65,000 Manatee Stakes, then held Star Operator at bay through the stretch for a 1 1/4-length victory in the filly-and-mare headliner.

Native Ruler picked up his third consecutive win when he outgamed Semaphore Man for a 1 1/2-length win in the $50,000 King Cotton at Oaklawn. It was another 2 3/4 lengths back to Silver Edition in third.

Turfiste used an all-out effort to run down Big Push and win the $60,000 Black Gold Stakes at Fair Gounds by a head on Saturday.

It was a battle down the long Fair Grounds stretch as Turfiste just got by favorite Big Push, who was making his first turf start.

After a stalking trip, Turfiste hooked up with early leader Big Push. Big Push did not give way, but was gradually headed as they crossed the finish line.

It was the first stakes win for Turfiste, who went the 5 1/2 furlongs over the Fair Grounds turf in 1:04.58 and paid $8.40 to win.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. - If Distorted Passion was good enough to win a sprint stakes over Aqueduct's inner track with significant traffic trouble, it only stood to reason she could be just as successful in a similar race with a clean trip.

NEW ORLEANS - Three allowance races - the fifth, seventh and ninth - highlight an unusually strong card for a Monday at Fair Grounds.

The fifth race, a 5 1/2-furlong first-level allowance on turf, may become more interesting if switched to the main track, with two talented fillies Greer Lynn and Heart Ashley waiting in the wings.

It has been six weeks since Greer Lynn's impressive maiden victory, and she may finally get a chance to run again. She is entered for the main track only, but with rain in the forecast, her connections were preparing to race.

OLDSMAR, Fla. - Nobody knows better than Derek Ryan that it is, as the refrain from the song goes, "A long way to Tipperary."

Now, in his 20th year in the United States since coming to this country from that famed Irish hamlet, Ryan is cautiously hopeful he can take another journey this spring with a promising 3-year-old named Musket Man.

NEW ORLEANS - A day after wavering, Larry Jones on Saturday recommitted his Triple Crown hopeful Old Fashioned for the Feb. 16 Southwest Stakes at Oaklawn Park.

After contemplating a change in plans for Old Fashioned's 3-year-old debut to protest the scratch of one of his horses at Oaklawn, Jones appeared satisfied with his ongoing discussions with track officials, and was planning personally to van Old Fashioned to Oaklawn on Monday.

"It seems like we are going to be able to work through it," Jones said.

A quarantine of a 38-horse barn at Turfway Park was lifted Saturday morning after samples from a horse euthanized at the track Friday tested negative for the equine herpesvirus (EVH-1) and other communicable diseases.

Barn 17 at Turfway had been placed under a precautionary quarantine Friday after a 5-year-old horse named Rockhouse Rocket was euthanized after displaying symptoms that led veterinarians and racing officials to suspect the equine herpesvirus.