VANCOUVER, British Columbia – Regal Isolation will put his good speed on display when he runs in what appears to be a wide-open race for entry-level allowance 3-year-olds at Hastings on Sunday. The 6 1/2-furlong feature goes as the seventh race and it’s hard to throw out any of the seven horses that have been entered.

Brinello, a five-length winner last year, looms the horse to beat in a field of 10 in Sunday’s $50,000 Agassiz Stakes at Assiniboia Downs.

Brinello’s only victory last year was that dominant performance in the one-mile Agassiz, but he rarely turns in a poor effort. In his 11 starts in 2007 and 2008, Brinello has 2 wins and 6 seconds, all against allowance or stakes foes. Brinello won the Manitoba Maturity two years ago.

Red Rocks, the morning-line favorite, will be scratched from Saturday’s Grade 1 Sword Dancer at Saratoga after developing filling in a hind ankle, trainer Mark Hennig said Friday.

“I dont want to aggravate it on soft going,” Hennig said.

Red Rocks, the 2006 Breeders’ Cup Turf winner, was coming off a victory over reigning Horse of the Year Curlin in the Grade 1 Man o’ War at Belmont July 12. His defection leaves seven in the Sword Dancer, with the morning-line favorite now Better Talk Now, who won the race in 2004.

The undefeated Peppers Pride has been committed to the rescheduled Lincoln Handicap at Ruidoso Downs on Aug. 31 after her connections chose not to enter her in the $50,000 Carlos Salazar Stakes at The Downs at Albuquerque on Thursday. She will attempt to win her 17th straight race in the $67,500 Lincoln, and if successful will set a modern record for consecutive wins by a North American-based Thoroughbred. Peppers Pride shares the current mark of 16 with Cigar, Citation, Hallowed Dreams, and Mister Frisky.

Randy Soth is leaving his position as president of Fair Grounds Race Course "to pursue other career interests," according to a press release issued Thursday by Churchill Downs Inc., the owner of Fair Grounds.

Soth came to Fair Grounds from Calder, another Churchill property, where he had served as vice president and general manager.

Soth, who did not return a call seeking comment, was quoted in the press release saying that it had been "a great honor to work as a member of the CDI management team."

Jockey Omar Berrio, a journeyman based in Southern California for the last 19 years, was suspended for six months on Wednesday for testing positive for cocaine twice in recent months, the Del Mar stewards announced in a ruling.

According to steward Tom Ward, Berrio, 39, tested positive for cocaine in New York on May 21, while riding briefly there. New York officials recently informed California Horse Racing Board investigators of the positive, which led to Berrio being retested, Ward said. Berrio tested positive for cocaine in California on Aug. 10, leading to the suspension.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Trainer Nick Zito has run multiple horses in four of the last six runnings of the Travers. It looks like he's about to make it five in the last seven.

Already slated to run Belmont Stakes winner Da' Tara in the race, Zito said Thursday that Cool Coal Man, third to Big Brown in the Haskell Invitational on Aug. 3, would run in the $1 million Travers on Aug. 23. Zito won the Travers in 2004 with Birdstone, finished second in 2006 with Bellamy Road, and ran third last year with Helsinki.

HENDERSON, Ky. - Bernie Flint has been down this road before. Having won or tied for 11 training titles at Ellis Park, the most in track history, Flint will make the long, familiar drive on Interstate 64 from Louisville to attend the races Saturday at Ellis.

"My doctors cleared me, said I'm finally good to go," said the 68-year-old Flint, who has been troubled in recent months following back surgery. "I'm looking forward to it."

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Bear Now vs. Serenading, Act III.

June 21: Bear Now controls a moderate pace in the 1 1/16-mile Hill 'n' Dale and lasts by a head over Serenading, closing on the inside.

July 20: Bear Now dictates a slightly faster pace in the 1 1/16-mile Ontario Matron and holds sway by 1 1/2 lengths over Serenading, closing on the outside.

Aug. 16: The distance is the same as Bear Now and Serenading meet again in the $100,000 Belle Mahone. Could the outcome be different?

The owners of Suffolk Downs in East Boston have made an agreement to buy nearby Wonderland Greyhound Park and will move forward as partners in pursuit of a lucrative resort casino license.

The two tracks, separated by about a mile and rivals since both opened in 1935, will continue to operate independently, but Suffolk's principal owner, Richard Fields, closed a deal Aug. 13 that would allow the horse track to buy the 35-acre dog racing facility at some point in the future.