STICKNEY, Ill. - There was nowhere to go but up for an Illinois-bred 3-year-old gelding named Wildeyedsouthernboy.

Out on the Arlington track for his career debut back in June, Wildeyedsouthernboy went through saddling in the paddock, the trip through the tunnel out onto the racetrack, and the post parade before his first crowd of onlookers without a hitch. This was no surprise to trainer Hugh Robertson, who had no concerns leading the horse over for the first time.

"He really never does anything wrong," Robertson said.

As a prelude to Saturday night’s West Virginia Breeders Classics program, featuring nine stakes worth a collective $1.8 million, Charles Town will run three $50,000 stakes sponsored by the local Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association on its Friday night card.

Four contenders appear difficult to separate in the 1 1/8-mile HBPA Governor’s Cup (race 8), which drew a full field of 10 older horses.

ARCADIA, Calif. - The absence of Big Brown from the $5 million Breeders' Cup Classic at Santa Anita on Oct. 25 may lead Awesome Gem to start in the race for the second consecutive year.

Third in the 2007 BC Classic at Monmouth Park, Awesome Gem was pre-entered for the Classic and the $2 million Mile on turf Tuesday, trainer Craig Dollase said.

"We'll take a shot in the Classic," Dollase said. "With Big Brown out, that helps his chances there."

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Woodbine should be well represented at this year's Breeders' Cup, with seven locally based runners scheduled to make appearances at Santa Anita next Friday or Saturday.

Bear Now, a Kentucky-bred who is aiming for the Oct. 24 Ladies' Classic, and Fatal Bullet, a Florida-bred who is on target for the Oct. 25 Sprint, both trained by Reade Baker, checked into Santa Anita on Oct. 4.

STICKNEY, Ill. – Jockey E.T. Baird and trainer Larry Rivelli both said the same thing in the winner’s circle shortly after Strait of Mewsina had scored a 19-1 upset in the Hawthorne Derby here on Saturday: The long-winded turf horse was likely to be a better racehorse next year at 4. Still, Rivelli said Tuesday morning that Strait of Mewsina was likely to get one more race during his 3-year-old season, with a start in the Dec. 12 McKnight Handicap at Calder penciled in as a likely spot.

City Style, who won the richest 2-year-old stakes of the Louisiana Downs meet last month in the $150,000 Sunday Silence, could be headed to the Breeders' Cup. He was pre-entered Tuesday in the $1 million Juvenile Turf, said Cash Asmussen, an assistant and consultant to his wife, trainer Cheryl Asmussen. A final decision on the horse's status was to be made following a workout at his Retama Park base on Wednesday.

"We'll see how he progresses, and what the entries look like," Asmussen said.

LEXINGTON, Ky. - When one door closes, another one opens. That's the basic philosophy that Greg Fox has adopted with the temporary loss of his stable star, Tizdejavu, and the colt's possible replacement in that role.

Tizdejavu, a winner of three graded turf stakes this year, recently underwent surgery for a non-displaced condylar fracture in his right foreleg and will be out of action indefinitely. Meanwhile, Fox has assimilated another graded winner, Golden Doc A, into his small stable adjacent to the Thoroughbred Training Center off Paris Pike in Lexington.

ELMONT, N.Y. - Patience proved virtuous for Remarkable Remy, who rallied six wide down the center of Belmont Park's Widener Turf Course Monday to win the $121,000 Pebbles Stakes by one length over Senior Rita Lady. It was a nose back to Meriwether Jessica in third.

The victory enabled Remarkable Remy to bounce back from a disappointing third-place finish in the Jack Betta Be Rite Stakes going six furlongs here on Sept. 18. In that race, trainer John Kimmel felt jockey Kent Desormeaux asked his horse to run too early.

Cato paid $367.20 when he won his maiden Sunday in the first race at Louisiana Downs, setting what is believed to be a record win payoff for the Bossier City, La., track. He was sent to post at 182-1 in a $5,000 maiden claiming race, stalked the pace, and was up for a neck win under jockey Pedro Monterrey.

"To the best of our knowledge, this is an all-time record at Louisiana Downs," said Mark Midland, the track's vice president of racing operations since 2006.

Jockey Norberto Arroyo Jr. was lucky to escape injury after being involved in an ugly-looking spill in Monday's fifth race at Belmont Park. Arroyo said he could return to race-riding Thursday.

"I got really lucky," Arroyo said late Monday afternoon from North Shore University Hospital, from where he was scheduled to be released Monday night.