INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Owner Ahmed Zayat, who pulled his horses out of California in the summer of 2007 because he did not want to race them over the Del Mar Polytrack, is sending a string to California next week, according to Bob Baffert and Mike Mitchell, who will train for him.

The number of Zayat-owned horses that will be sent to California is unclear. Sobhy Sonbol, Zayat's racing manager, was not available for comment. Baffert and Mitchell said on Friday that they would learn more this weekend as to what horses would be arriving.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. - The Grade 1-winning 3-year-old filly Zaftig has been retired from racing after tearing the suspensory ligament in her left hind leg, her connections said Friday.

Zaftig, who beat Indian Blessing in the Grade 1 Acorn at Belmont Park in June, was pointing to a start against males in the Grade 1 Cigar Mile at Aqueduct on Nov. 29. On Thursday, Zaftig worked five furlongs in 1:01.49 over Belmont Park's training track. An ultrasound done later that morning revealed the tear.

Negotiations on a deal that would have allowed Television Games Network to take wagers on races from Fair Grounds in New Orleans failed to produce an agreement on the track's opening day, according to officials involved in the talks.

NEW ORLEANS - At a moment in time when the buzzword at many racetracks is "survive," Fair Grounds wants to work under a different premise when its 87-day race meet begins Friday: Thrive.

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. - The Thoroughbred meet at the Meadowlands Racetrack concludes Saturday night with one of the strongest cards of the 41-day run.

The 10-race card that gets under way at 7 p.m. includes five allowance-optional claiming races.

The features are a pair of $51,000 split divisions of the second-level allowance condition for New Jersey-breds with the option to run for a $25,000 claiming tag at one mile and 70 yards.

In the first division, race 7, Rolled Up slides in via the claiming option.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. - The New York-bred program has certainly come a long way over the last decade. Now, one of the top New York-breds of 2008 is going a long way to carry the banner for the program and North America.

The connections of Tin Cup Chalice have accepted an invitation to run their 3-year-old gelding in the $2.4 million Japan Cup Dirt at Hanshin Racecourse in Hyogo, Japan on Dec. 7.

The Maryland Department of Agriculture on Thursday placed a hold order on a barn at Laurel Park after a 2-year-old filly tested positive for equine herpesvirus, a highly contagious disease that has surfaced several times at racetracks in Maryland over the past two years.

The filly, Nin, who is trained by King Leatherbury, could not stand on Wednesday, according to state veterinary officials, but was eating on Thursday with no sign of fever. None of the other 29 horses in the barn was showing any neurological signs of distress, the officials said.

Churchill Downs Inc. on Thursday named Tom O'Donnell, a longtime casino executive, as the new president and general manager of Calder Race Course as well as a senior vice president of Churchill Downs Inc., which owns Calder.

O'Donnell succeeds Ken Dunn, who left Calder in April, just before beginning of the current racing season.

NEW ORLEANS - Denis of Cork, who wintered at Fair Grounds last season before making an impact on the Triple Crown trail, is recovering nicely from the injury that sidelined him early this summer, and trainer David Carroll hopes to have the colt back in his barn by mid-January. If things move along smoothly, Denis of Cork could be ready in time for the New Orleans Handicap March 14 - a big "if" with a horse coming back from a long break.

Carroll typically enjoys successful Fair Grounds meetings, and usually has a promising youngster or two that winter in New Orleans.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - While invaders Selva and Holiday Girl figure to attract serious support in Saturday's Glorious Song at Woodbine, a third out-of-towner is coming into the race under the radar.

Hooh Why, who had been based at Hawthorne with trainer Michael Reavis, checked in just a month ago and won a first-level allowance at 6 1/2 furlongs on Oct. 16.

On Saturday, Hooh Why again will be looking to come up with the correct answers when she makes her stakes debut in the $150,000 Glorious Song, a seven-furlong race for 2-year-old fillies.