POMONA, Calif. - The Los Angeles County fair meeting at Fairplex Park ended on Monday with a decline in all-sources handle in line with what track executives feared would occur in a slow economy, according to equine manager Paul Ryneveld.

Ryneveld said all-sources handle at the 16-day meeting fell about 8.5 percent from the 2007 meeting. In addition, the slump in business this year will have a negative effect on purses for the 2009 meeting, though Ryneveld said details will not be known until more thorough handle figures are compiled in coming weeks.

MIAMI - After much soul-searching, the connections of Golden Spikes have settled on Saturday's $250,000 Gallant Bob Stakes at Philadelphia Park for the Grade 2 winner's next start.

ARCADIA, Calif. - A quarter-century later, the chaos remains a vivid memory.

Trevor Denman, age 31, fresh off the plane from Durban, South Africa, stood in the announcer's booth atop Santa Anita, preparing to call the first race of the 1983 Oak Tree meeting. Things were not going smoothly. A radio technician was frantically trying to repair a broken communication line at the moment when Denman needed a moment of calm.

"It couldn't have been worse timing," Denman said. "It's probably the most nervous I've ever been."

My Baby Baby, ridden by Miguel Mena, surged past a pair of dueling leaders in the final sixteenth-mile to post her first stakes victory Monday in the $50,000 Pleasant Temper Stakes at Kentucky Downs in Franklin, Ky.

Sent away the favorite in a field of 10 fillies and mares, My Baby Baby returned $5.80 after finishing one mile in 1:37.86 over firm turf. The Real Future finished three-quarters of a length behind the leader, with Tremendous One rallying to be third, another head back.

ALBANY, Calif. - Business-wise and artistically, Week 1 at Golden Gate Fields was a success.

After a summer that turned into a grind for the racing office at each stop along the fair circuit, field size during the first week at Golden Gate Fields averaged nine horses per race.

ELMONT, N.Y. - Reigning Horse of the Year Curlin put the finishing touches on his preparation for Saturday's $750,000 Jockey Club Gold Cup by working an easy half-mile in 51.85 seconds Monday morning over Saratoga's Oklahoma training track.

Under exercise rider Carlos Rosas, Curlin went his first quarter in 25.70 seconds and his second quarter in 26.15 while galloping out five furlongs in 1:06.15, according to track clockers.

Pinnacle Race Course will drop Monday racing in favor of Sundays for the remainder of the meet, which runs through Nov. 2. Also, entries will not be taken on Monday, but rather on Sunday as well, said the track’s racing secretary, Denver Beckner. The change will take effect with racing this coming Sunday. Post time every day will be 2:30 p.m.

Etries will not be taken on Monday, but rather on Sunday, as well, said Beckner.

The Polytrack surface at Turfway Park should serve as an interesting stage Saturday when dirt specialists Zanjero and Honest Man face turf pro Stream Cat in the anchor event of the 15th annual Kentucky Cup series, the $350,000 Kentucky Cup Classic.

Trainer Al Stall Jr. on Monday morning happily found himself charting some new territory. In last weekend's Super Derby winner, My Pal Charlie, he has a 3-year-old taking a major fall stakes five weeks from the Breeders' Cup. What's next is uncertain, however, as Stall was just beginning to delve into his options on Monday.

"We'll start at the top and work our way down," he said. "We'll look at the Classic and the Dirt Mile, and look at other things elsewhere. I'm not going to worry about it until the next day or two. Then I'll get the book out and see what's going on.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Any doubts surrounding the status of the Queen's Plate winner, Not Bourbon, were removed emphatically by his impressive 4 1/2-length win in the seven-furlong Overskate here last Saturday.

After suffering an entrapped epiglottis during his disappointing seventh-place finish in Fort Erie's July 13 Prince of Wales and subsequently undergoing throat surgery, Not Bourbon had to be scratched from the Aug. 31 Vice Regent after injuring himself slightly in his stall that morning.