Shaun Bridgmohan never had ridden a race at Fair Grounds until early this meet, when he made his way to New Orleans after finishing out Churchill Downs's fall season. He did not take long to make his mark, which is what happens when you're riding just about everything for trainer Steve Asmussen.

Bridgmohan, just weeks into his Fair Grounds tenure, marked his name down in the record book with six-win afternoon Saturday, as many winners as any jockey has ever ridden on a single card at this historic track.

STICKNEY, Ill. - Chris Emigh, following in the footsteps of Eddie Razo, is taking the plunge, leaving the friendly confines of the Chicago circuit for a longer-term foray into the wider racing world. Like Razo last year, Emigh will be at Oaklawn Park when the Arkansas track opens its doors next month.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Barring an unforeseen slump or unpredicted cancellations, Gary Contessa will at some point this week set a one-year record for wins by a trainer on the New York Racing Association circuit.

Entering the final five days of racing this year, Contessa has 155 wins, one shy of the record 156 set by Frank "Pancho" Martin in 1974. That it is Martin's record he is about to break brings about mixed emotions for Contessa, who worked as an assistant under Martin for five years before going out on his own in 1985.

ARCADIA, Calif. - The smell of the fresh cut grass. Getting reacquainted with friendly faces. Anticipation over the promise of the upcoming season. And a clean slate, with no losses yet to mar the ledger. Yes, opening day is special, whether it's in April at Dodger Stadium or Wednesday at Santa Anita.

That crossover appeal has long attracted prominent baseball people to racing, such as John Galbreath, who owned the Pittsburgh Pirates and won both the Kentucky Derby and Epsom Derby.

The 3-year-old gelding Ravalo ($6.60), coming off a career-best performance winning the Sophomore Sprint Championship a month earlier, had an equally easy time stepping up to defeat older sprinters in Saturday night's $75,000 Christmas Stakes at Mountaineer Racetrack.

Based at Laurel Park with trainer Donald Barr, Ravalo scored a wire-to-wire 3.5-length victory by covering six furlongs on a fast track in 1:11.19 under jockey Dana Whitney. Midwest shipper Coach Jimi Lee, the co-favorite at 2-1, took second by a head over Cowboy Hardware in a field reduced to five by five scratches.

Ask the Moon ($12.20) remained undefeated in three starts at one mile when she defeated 6-5 favorite Hartigan by 4 1/4 lengths for her first stakes victory in Saturday's $50,000 Maryland Juvenile Filly Championship at Laurel Park.

Ridden by Hiram Rivera for trainer Ned Allard, Ask the Moon covered the distance on a fast track in 1:40.16 for her third win in six overall starts. In her previous two tries at a mile, Ask the Moon won her maiden at Laurel and took a first-level allowance at her home track, Philadelphia Park.

Kadira, cutting back from a mile to race in Saturday's six-furlong, $50,000 Gowell Stakes at Turfway Park, used her speed to dominate, winning by 8 1/2 lengths.

Breaking from the fence, she was hustled to the lead under Larry Melancon and after taking pressure through an opening quarter in 21.95 seconds, easily put away the opposition. She led by 1 1/2 lengths after a half-mile in 44.93 and drew away under urging through the stretch to complete six furlongs over Polytrack in 1:09.68.

Good Looker R F rallied for a 2 1/2-length win over favorite Shezapirate in the $125,000 La Coneja at Sunland Park on Saturday. Lady Lance finished another 2 1/4 lengths back in third after setting the pace in the 5 1/2-furlong race for 3-year-old New Mexico-bred fillies.

Hawthorne Race Course has canceled Sunday's nine-race program because of a sharp drop in temperature and high winds. The decision to scrap the card was made at about 9:15 a.m., general manager Jim Miller said, and is a departure from three recent cancellations, all of which occurred after two races had been conducted.

"This way, no one had to treat their horses (with Lasix), and we can bring the races back that much more quickly," Miller said.

Jerry Hollendorfer won the 11th race at Hollywood Park on Saturday with Political High to become the fourth trainer in history to record 5,000 victories.

The Northern California-based Hollendorfer won with his only two starters at Hollywood Saturday, also winning the third race with favored Gold Trim. His lone starter at Golden Gate Fields on Saturday, Alottadar, ran fourth.