ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. - Al Stall's first stakes trip to Arlington Park this summer turned, quite frankly, into a bummer. Lattice looked like the horse to beat in the Stars and Stripes Handicap on July 4, but finished last of nine in the race, and had surgery to repair an injured ankle not long after.

MIAMI - If prepping for the Breeders' Cup Classic with a race on the turf is good enough for Big Brown, then why shouldn't it be good enough for Smooth Air?

Obviously that's what Bennie Stutts Jr. is thinking. The veteran trainer is plotting a course to the BC Classic for Smooth Air that will begin with the $100,000 Needles Stakes here on Sept. 27. Smooth Air got his first taste of running on the grass on Monday morning, working seven furlongs over a firm course in 1:29.88.

The pick six at Fairplex Park on Monday returned $7,922 after a carryover of $466,800 from the weekend led to $1,263,138 of fresh money being added to the pool.

The winners of Monday's pick six races - the fifth through 10th - were Ribomoon ($13.40), Private Posse ($3.60), Gold Datnoid ($5.20), Stormin Story ($7), Lauren C ($9.40), and Norco Pal ($4.80).

Stormin Story finished second to Harmony Creator, but was promoted to first when Harmony Creator was ruled to have caused interference through the stretch.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Jockey Carl Defreitas had toiled here in relative anonymity since his arrival in 1998, winning just eight races and seeing his workload grow increasingly lighter in the last two years.

But Defreitas, 42, has found himself in the spotlight this summer due to the exploits of Baywoods, a 5-year-old mare that he piloted to her meet-leading fifth consecutive victory here last Saturday.

"This is my best year," said Defreitas, who is winning at a 50 percent clip while going 5 for 6 aboard Baywoods and 0 for 4 with his other mounts.

ELMONT, N.Y. - Less than two weeks before his attempt to become North America's all-time leading money-earning Thoroughbred in the $750,000 Jockey Club Gold Cup at Belmont, Curlin worked a solid five furlongs in 1:01.80 Monday morning over the Saratoga training track.

As he did in his major moves before winning the Woodward, Curlin breezed in company with stablemate Hawaii Calls, breaking off with him before finishing slightly in front at the wire and galloping out stronger of the two, according to Scott Blasi, assistant to trainer Steve Asmussen.

FRANKLIN, Ky. - A September heat wave that left a lot of brows sopped and shirts soaked was not enough to keep one of the biggest crowds in recent memory from turning out Saturday for the 12th annual Kentucky Cup turf series at Kentucky Downs.

Although attendance is free and an official admission is not recorded, track president Corey Johnsen estimated that about 4,000 people turned out in 90-plus-degree temperatures for opening day of the six-day meet.

POMONA, Calif. - The 10-race program at Fairplex Park on Monday in highlighted by a pick six carryover of $466,800, a massive sum for the Los Angles County fair meeting.

The pick six covers the fifth through 10th races on a program that begins at 1 p.m. The first pick six race has a scheduled post time of 3 p.m. The pick six races feature five sprints, and one race at 1 1/16 miles. The featured ninth race is an optional claimer for fillies and mares at 6 1/2 furlongs. The race has drawn a field of 10 but lacks a standout.

A male racegoer was hospitalized on Sunday after apparently being struck by a loose horse who jumped the outside rail following the 12th race at Fairplex Park, track officials said.

The condition and the identity of the man were not immediately available on Monday afternoon. The person was conscious after the accident while being transported to County USC Medical Center, according to Wendy Talarico, the communications and public relations manager for the Los Angeles County Fair.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Trainer Greg DeGannes was guaranteed a berth in the Breeders' Cup when CoKarma won Sunday's Grade 3 Natalma, a Win and You're In race for the Juvenile Fillies Turf at Santa Anita on Oct. 24.

"I definitely think we're going to head there," said DeGannes, after CoKarma won the $167,500 Natalma by a neck going a mile on soft turf. "I think she would appreciate a two-turn [race] a lot more than this one-turn mile, because of her natural speed."

ALBANY, Calif. - With Bay Meadows now officially closed, Golden Gate Fields is the only major racetrack in Northern California. Golden Gate begins a 67-day fall meet Wednesday, and the track will be the home of Thoroughbred racing through June, pending approval of the 2009 racing schedule by the California Horse Racing Board, which meets Thursday in Pomona.