Aqueduct posted gains in attendance and handle for the 80-day winter/spring meet that ran from Jan. 1 through April 27, the New York Racing Association announced Thursday.

With five more racing days than the corresponding period in 2007, daily average attendance rose 5.7 percent from 2,610 to 2,760. Total attendance jumped 12.8 percent from 195,748 to 220,793.

Daily average ontrack handle increased 4.3 percent from $602,659 to $628,295 with the total growing 11.2 percent from $45,199,421 to $50,263,568.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Trainer Abraham Katryan's Woodbine barn has a new look this season.

Katryan, 51, has been training since 1997 and this will be his first campaign in which owner Bruno Schickedanz is not a client.

Schickedanz, whose horses accounted for 15 of Katryan's 42 winners last year, has consolidated his stock here with trainer Mark Fournier.

"Bruno gave me a great start," said Katryan. "I wish him all the best."

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Eighty winning $1 tickets, each returning $26,922, were sold Thursday on the Super High Five wager at Churchill after the day started with a jackpot carryover of $866,712.

VANCOUVER, British Columbia - Trainer Pat Jarvis is hoping to pull off a small upset with Pat of Gold in the $50,000 Brighouse Belles at Hastings on Saturday.

Although Pat of Gold has technically never won a stakes race, she certainly belongs in the Brighouse Belles. A 4-year-old filly by Regal Remark, Pat of Gold closed out her 3-year-old year with a couple of strong performances just seven days apart.

ELMONT, N.Y. - In the summer of 2005, Linda Rice had high hopes for a 2-year-old she had purchased at auction for a reasonable $70,000. But a few months later, that same horse lay in a New Jersey equine hospital getting treated for a rare heart ailment.

Doctors at that clinic thought it unlikely that Executive Fleet would ever make it to the races. A month ago, Executive Fleet came within a half-length of winning the Grade 1 Carter Handicap. On Saturday, Executive Fleet could be favored to win the Grade 3, $100,000 Bold Ruler Handicap at Belmont Park.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Shamdinan, the runner-up in the Breeders' Cup Turf last fall, was one of the eight nominees for Saturday's $250,000 Jim Murray Handicap at Hollywood Park. But instead of running him in that Grade 2 race over 1 1/2 miles on turf, trainer Doug O'Neill has opted for a $70,000 allowance race over a mile on turf later on Saturday's program.

O'Neill hopes to give Shamdinan a confidence boost after disappointing ninth- and seven-place finishes in graded stakes at Gulfstream Park and Santa Anita earlier this year.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - A pick-six payoff of more than $1.1 million was returned Wednesday to one winning bettor after a 49-1 shot won the ninth and last race of the day at Churchill Downs. The payoff of $1,127,774 narrowly missed the Churchill record of $1,168,136, set on June 25, 2003.

ELMONT, N.Y. - His family ties to the Belmont Stakes are the main reason Casino Drive has been shipped from Japan to New York. Whether Casino Drive proves to be as talented as his half-brother Jazil, the 2006 Belmont winner, and half-sister Rags to Riches, the 2007 Belmont winner, remains to be seen.

OCEANPORT, N.J. - The temporary seats and bleachers are gone. The tents have been packed away. Monmouth Park is back to normal as it prepares to open Friday for the first card since hosting the Breeders' Cup in October.

Also missing is the palpable tension and anxiety that filtered through last season as Monmouth strained to finish a major overhaul of the grandstand, clubhouse, and backstretch in time for the Breeders' Cup.

GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas - The last time trainers Vladimir Cerin and Bob Hess Jr. started a horse at Lone Star Park, they won significant stakes races. Cerin sent out Luftikus to capture the Grade 3 Lone Star Park Handicap in 2000, while Hess trainee Spring Meadow won the $150,000 Stonerside in 2002. Saturday, both return for the first time since their local stakes triumphs to run horses in the Grade 3, $400,000 Lone Star Derby.

"I've always hoped to get back," said Hess. "I just needed the right kind of horse."