Thoroughbreds, Quarter Horses, Arabians, Appaloosas, and Paints will take part in stakes during closing weekend of this session. On Saturday, Quarter Horses will compete in the finals of the Grade 2, $62,000 Mile High Derby at 400 yards; Thoroughbreds will meet in the $25,000 Spicy Handicap at 1 1/16 miles; and Arabians will run in the $20,000 Soaring Eagle Distaff at 1 1/16 miles.

Trainer Tim Hamm has a good chance of turning the hat trick in the Ohio-bred 2-year-old stakes division Friday when he sends out Raise the Reward and Astronaut in the $50,000 Cleveland Kindergarten Stakes at six furlongs.

Hamm has saddled the winners of the first two Ohio-bred 2-year-old stakes run this year - Raise the Reward in the Hoover and Slides Choice in the Tah Dah. Both stakes were run at River Downs.

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. - The people connected to the horse are scattered across the globe: A bloodstock man in Ireland, stud-farm owners in South Africa, and a sheikh from Dubai. Bred in the U.S., Archipenko was briefly a 2007 English Derby hopeful for the mighty Coolmore operation and trainer Aidan O'Brien. But his form deteriorated badly last year at 3, the colt was sold privately, and over the winter in Dubai, he blossomed into a completely different racehorse.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Seaside Retreat has always had talent, but that came with an attitude that may have kept him from realizing his full potential.

Finally, having exhausted all other avenues, Seaside Retreat's trainer, Mark Casse, called owner Bill Farish Jr. with a difficult proposition.

"I'd had a lot of trouble with the horse at 3," said Casse. "I called Bill and said, 'I know this is going to hurt, but this horse needs to be gelded.' "

Even after that, Seaside Retreat's troubles were not over.

Star Production has stepped up his game with more distance, and last Saturday he indicated he will be a force in the Louisiana-bred ranks the rest of the year with his eight-length romp over multiple stakes winner Ide Like a Double in the $100,000 Louisiana Breeders' Derby at Louisiana Downs. For the effort in the 1 1/16-mile race, Star Production earned a career-best Beyer Figure of 102.

"I'd never seen him run one like that," said James Hodges, who trains Star Production for Foxwood Plantation. "It looks like he's worked into being a stakes horse around two turns."

DEL MAR, Calif. - Win. You're In. Oh, by the way, you've still got to pay.

That's the story arc for owner Richard Templer, whose Black Mamba won the John Mabee Handicap on Sunday, thus giving her an automatic berth in the Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf on Oct. 24 at Santa Anita. Black Mamba, who was bred in New Zealand, was not an original nominee to the Breeders' Cup program, so in order for her to run in the Filly and Mare Turf, Templer would have to pony up 15 percent of the race's $2 million purse, some $300,000.

He said he's prepared to do it.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - I Lost My Choo could be one of the shortest-priced favorites of this entire meet when she faces five seemingly overmatched rivals in Thursday's $150,000 Statue of Liberty division of the New York Stallion Stakes at Saratoga.

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. - Okay, so he's not exactly a throwback to 50 years ago, when a racehorse was liable to run two times in a week. But in this age of declining activity, Einstein looks like an iron horse.

Einstein shipped by van from Churchill Downs to Arlington Park on Monday and will start here Saturday in the Arlington Million, which will draw between eight and 10 horses when entries are taken Wednesday morning. Cosmonaut, one of the pre-entrants, is unlikely to ship for the race; Out of Control, another pre-entry, may or may not come from New York.

AUBURN, Wash. - Fear No Evil has had his doubters this season, and we're not talking about a scattered few.

A fond farewell to the racing mule legend Black Ruby and the annual renewal of the 1 5/8-mile Humboldt County Marathon highlight the Humboldt County Fair meet, which begins Thursday and runs through Sunday, Aug. 17.

Black Ruby, the 16-year-old queen of the mules, is set to make her final appearance under racing silks during the fair. Black Ruby has won 70 races. Owners Sunny and Mary McPherson targeted Ferndale for her final start because of her popularity there.