Swinging to the middle of the course for racing room in upper stretch, Royal Regan closed in the final sixteenth for a one-length upset win in the Lightning City Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs.

With Pedro Cotto Jr. up, Royal Regan ran the five furlongs over a firm turf course in 56.61 seconds and returned $19.80.

Bucky's Prayer, boxed in to midstretch, split rivals and drew even for the lead before being caught by the winner. Bucky's Prayer held second by a head over Message of a Myth.

Executive Choice ($12.90) proved a comfortable winner of the $127,000 Sir Barton Stakes.

He pressed front-runner My Imperial Dancer through tepid fractions of 24.55 and 48.10 seconds in the 1 1/16-mile race for Ontario-sired runners. He then opened a clear lead in the stretch and coasted home on top by 2 3/4 lengths over 28-1 Archers Alyancer. Dancer's Bajan rallied for third, and favored Arch Hall, who had won the three previous runnings of the Sir Barton, finished sixth in the 10-horse field.

Heavily favored Lexi Star basically turned the $60,000 Geisha Handicap at Laurel into a paid workout, bounding to the front and leading every step, without facing a challenge.

She ran the 1 1/8-mile race for Maryland-bred fillies and mares in 1:53.90 over muddy going and paid $2.40.

Under Juan Acosta, Lexi Star cut soft fractions of 25.50 seconds for a quarter-mile, 49.97 for the half, 1:14.64 for six furlongs, and 1:40.48 for the mile.

"It was as easy as it looked," Acosta said

Pretoria Light may be no match for Cher Ami on the main track, but it was a different story when the two 3-year-old fillies met on grass in the $50,000 Sunny Issues Stakes.

Pretoria Light turned the tables on her nemesis in the one-mile Sunny Issues, chasing and then overtaking Cher Ami near midstretch en route to a one-length victory over the 8-5 favorite, Snow Cone. Cher Ami gradually weakened once relinquishing the lead, checking in another half-length farther back in third.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. - The most important stakes victory of Sunriver's career may have been his easiest win. Saturday, in the $250,000 Hollywood Turf Cup at Hollywood Park, Sunriver took an early lead in the Grade 1 race and never faced a serious challenge, drawing off in early stretch to win by 2 3/4 lengths.

Sunriver ($6) ran 1 1/2 miles on turf in 2:27.07, a slow time on a course rated good after recent rain.

Link to My Heart had made her last four starts against open company, and already had raced around two turns four times coming into Saturday's Pat Whitworth Illinois Debutante Stakes. Her lone issue was dirt racing, something Link to My Heart never had tried, but that turned out to be no issue at all.

With a sharp move on the far turn under Eddie Razo, Link to My Heart got into position by the stretch run, wearing down pacesetting Carbella, and comfortably holding clear her stablemate Apple Martini to win by 1 1/4 lengths.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. - The old gray gelding remembered what he used to be in Saturday's Grade 3 Queens County Handicap at Aqueduct.

The 9-year-old Evening Attire unleashed his trademark late run under Edgar Prado and was able to wear down the pacesetting Barcola to take the $106,900 Queens County Handicap by a head. It was three lengths back to the 9-5 favorite, Hunting, in third. Marital Asset and Nkosi Reigns completed the order of finish. Barracuda Boy scratched.

Highland Games had no trouble handling the muddy track at Turf Paradise as he stalked the pace in Saturday's $45,000 Hank Mills Sr. Handicap and rallied gamely for the victory.

Owned by Sandra Hall Trust and trained by Lyman Rollins, Highland Games was third early in the mile race named for the track's first starter who served in that role for 25 years. Highland Game then swung wide into the lane under Glenn Corbett and finished resolutely to wear down favored Nationhood and win by three-quarters of a length.

You can see why the owner Bill Heiligbrodt decided to buy Ahead of Her Time.

Winning for the sixth time in six dirt races, Ahead of Her Time ($4.20) completely dominated the Louisiana Champions Day Ladies, drawing off through the stretch for an 11 1/2-length victory. And barring misfortune, there should be many more of these to come, since the Louisiana breeding program offers a vast annual buffet of statebred-restricted stakes.

If it appeared on paper like Costa Rising couldn't lose the Louisiana Champions Day Classic, Costa Rising did nothing to contradict that appearance in reality, making short work of four overmatched rivals in the $150,000 race.

Costa Rising had eked out a narrow win in the race last year, but this one was all over early. With the other two speed horses scratched out of the Classic in favor of the Sprint, Costa Rising coasted on an easy early lead and left his opponents far behind in the stretch, drawing clear through the final quarter-mile to score a 15 1/4-length victory.