OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Pitched Perfectly will have to be on top of his game in order to defeat Haynesfield in Saturday's $65,000 Count Fleet Stakes, but if his last race was any indication of his true ability, he'll stand more than a puncher's chance.

Pitched Perfectly drew the rail and will be coupled with stablemate Bad Action in a seven-horse field for the Count Fleet, the first 3-year-old stakes of the year to be run in New York. The Count Fleet is run at a mile and 70 yards.

MIAMI - Famous Patriot first gained national attention early in 2008 when he followed up an impressive nine-furlong maiden victory at Gulfstream Park with a third-place finish in the Grade 3 Holy Bull Stakes. A victory over the multiple stakes winner Tin Cup Chalice in an overnight stakes in New York late last summer enhanced his reputation.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - The 2009 Gulfstream Park meeting will get off to a fast start on Saturday with a 10-race program that includes two stakes, the $100,000 Spectacular Bid for 3-year-olds and the Grade 3, $100,000 Hal's Hope for older horses.

The 2009 Gulfstream meeting runs through April 23.

With a full field of 14 entered, the one-mile Hal's Hope could turn out to be one of the best wagering events of the meet. Delightful Kiss, Anak Nakal, and It's a Bird will share high weight of 122 pounds under the allowance conditions of the event.

STICKNEY, Ill. - When the calendar flips over to 2009, there will be nine racing days left in the Hawthorne fall-winter meet. Nine days for Inez Karlsson to try and hang onto her lead in the Hawthorne jockey standings.

Royale Michele changed tactics to capture her third straight race since joining trainer Matthew Kintz's barn at Mountaineer Racetrack by upsetting Tuesday night's $75,000 New Year's Eve Stakes.

Ridden for the first time by Deshawn Parker, the 3-year-old filly Royale Michele ($22.60) was rated in fifth through a half-mile in 45.62 seconds. In her two previous starts, Royal Michele had led wire to wire.

It was not as easy as his 3-10 price would seem to suggest, but Retap circled seven wide into the stretch and kicked down 60-1 outsider and pacesetter All Maxed Out to win the 46th running of the Riley Allison Futurity at Sunland Park Tuesday afternoon. Restless Missile finished third in the $100,000 fixture for 2-year-olds, followed by Bronze Fox.

The Louisiana State Racing Commission's decision Monday night to lift a shipping ban at Fair Grounds means an outbreak of the equine herpesvirus there could cause only a ripple at the track's ongoing meet, rather than crashing over it.

ARCADIA, Calif. - Sunday morning, the day after Garrett Gomez fell heavily in a one-horse spill at Santa Anita and less than 12 hours after he was released from the hospital, the jockey wanted to go to the racetrack and get on a few horses to test his condition.

Second thoughts kept him at home.

"I couldn't move my hand too well and I didn't have any teeth," he said.

BOYNTON BEACH, Fla. - The potential for disaster does not discriminate in racing. A training-hours collision from which everyone was fortunate to emerge intact Monday morning at Gulfstream Park gave trainer Nick Zito a sobering reminder that luck is a major factor in virtually every aspect of the sport.

"You've got Hall of Fame trainers, Eclipse Award trainers, and something like this happens," he said. "It just goes to show it can happen to anybody."

OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Randi Persaud doesn't believe he ever rode a horse like Are We Dreamin in his 12-year riding career, which concluded in 2006. He can only hope that he gets another one like Are We Dreamin in his barn during the remainder of his training career.