INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Champs Elysees had better luck this year. Ridden for the first time by Jose Valdivia, Champs Elysees ($5.60) parlayed a perfect trip to a half-length victory Saturday in the Grade 1 Hollywood Turf Cup, the mile and a half race he should have won a year ago in his U.S. debut.

Highland Games rallied to defend his title successfully in the $50,000 Hanks Mills Sr. Handicap at Turf Paradise on Saturday, while Tizfiz used her speed to capture the $50,000 Queen of the Green Handicap later on the card.

Highland Games, owned by the Sandra Hall Trust and trained by Lyman Rollins, sat midpack in the Hanks Mills - a one-mile main-track event - and finished doggedly to outduel the pacesetting Bingham in the final yards to win by a half-length under Miguel Hernandez.

Patena ($10.50) wore down a game Hooh Why in the final furlong to take the $152,000 Display Stakes at Woodbine.

Hooh Why, the lone filly in the 11-horse field, set honest fractions on an uncontested lead in the 1 1/16-mile route for 2-year-olds. Patena raced in the first flight on the backstretch and came three wide on the far turn before taking a slim lead at the eighth pole. Hooh Why dug in through the last eighth, but Patena prevailed by a head, in a time of 1:44.72.

Robert Landry rode Patena for trainer Josie Carroll.

The Pat Whitworth Illinois Debutante turned, essentially, into a $107,650 maiden race. Ava Mae had failed to win the first two starts of her career, but she won the Debutante, rallying wide and from well behind a contested early pace to score by two lengths over Winpins at Hawthorne.

Kiss With a Twist found a seam at the right time before drawing off to a 2 1/4-length victory under Miguel Mena in the $50,000 My Charmer Stakes at Turfway Park in Florence, Ky., on a bleak Saturday afternoon.

Sent away the favorite in a field of 12 fillies and mares, Kiss With a Twist returned $6.80 after completing 1 1/16 miles in 1:47.52 over Polytrack. Cryptoquip was up in the closing strides to get second in a three-way photo, with Lauren's Tizzy third and Absolutely Cindy fourth.

The win photograph in Saturday's Pago Hop Stakes at Fair Grounds spread almost from inner rail to outer fence. Six horses finished within a half-length of one another in the $60,000 turf stakes for 3-year-old fillies. Love to Tell was barely best.

That's the way things have gone this Fair Grounds season for leading rider Francisco Torres, who never has wintered before in New Orleans, who has been in and out of racing because of substance-abuse-related bans, and who continues knocking out victories.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. - The 4-year-old colt Slew's Tizzy will not live in the shadow of his younger brother. Nine days after 3-year-old Slew's Tiznow won a minor $70,000 stakes at Hollywood Park, his full brother Slew's Tizzy scored a $16.40 upset with a track-record win in the Grade 3 Native Diver Handicap.

One odds-on favorite disappointed and one came through Saturday at Philadelphia Park in a pair of $75,000 stakes for Pennsylvania-bred juveniles.

In the Pennsylvania Nursery, Officer Ipod could not duplicate the front-running score in the Hi Yield last month at Penn National that drove his odds to 3-5 Saturday. After battling on the lead with Count the Gold for a half-mile in 45.03 seconds, Officer Ipod, with Joe Rocco Jr. riding, didn't have enough left when St. John's Gospel, who had been well off the early pace, made his rally.

MIAMI - The Kentucky Derby is still five months away, but one couldn't blame trainer David Fawkes or owner Harold Queen if they at least began thinking about running for the roses after Big Drama turned in a game performance to win Friday's Grade 3 Delta Jackpot at Delta Downs.

By notching his fifth consecutive victory in the Delta Jackpot, Big Drama picked up $450,000 in graded earnings, which all but assures him a spot in the 2009 Kentucky Derby should things continue to progress favorably for the Calder-based colt this winter and spring.

MIAMI - When trainer Greg Gilchrist makes the long trip from his northern California base to Calder Race Course with one of his horses, he's not coming for the stone crabs or a night on South Beach. He comes to win.

Gilchrist, who is based at Golden Gate Fields, notched his fifth victory in just eight starts at Calder when Wild Promises posted a front-running one-length victory over Callwood Dancer in Saturday's $100,000 My Charmer Handicap. Rutherienne finished another neck further back as the 6-5 favorite in the Grade 3 race for fillies and mares.