A frustrating day for jockey Jeremy Rose turned into one to remember when he won the $285,000 Maryland Million Classic aboard Evil Storm at Laurel on Saturday.

The Classic was one of 12 races offering a total of $1.68 million on the 22nd Maryland Million, which is for the offspring of sires based in Maryland.

Rose had finished second in four earlier stakes on the day, including aboard odds-on Silmaril in the Distaff. But Rose had no problem winning the Classic aboard the 11-1 Evil Storm, who paid $25.20.

ELMONT, N.Y. - All things being equal, Society Hostess would be the most likely winner of Sunday's $100,000 Xtra Heat Stakes at Belmont Park. But not all things are equal for the talented mare entering the six-furlong turf feature.

First, Society Hostess hasn't run since winning the Grade 3 Monrovia Handicap at Santa Anita on New Year's Day, 286 days ago. Second, she came out of that race with a chip in an ankle that required surgery. Third, as the 122-pound highweight, Society Hostess must spot 3 to 9 pounds to some competent rivals Sunday.

By STEVE ANDERSEN

ARCADIA, Calif. - Nashoba's Key worked a half-mile in 47.20 seconds at Santa Anita on Friday morning, satisfying trainer Carla Gaines and leaving her eager for the $2 million Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf at Monmouth Park on Oct. 27.

"She always works well," Gaines said. "This time is deceiving. I'm still trying to figure out this track, but what she did, she did easily and that's the main thing. Very easily."

MIAMI - Sunday marks the 112th and final racing day of the 2007 Calder meet, one that was highlighted by the Summit of Speed card and the performances of jockey Elvis Trujillo and trainer Kirk Ziadie. The Tropical at Calder meet begins on Monday.

LEXINGTON, Ky. - Garrett Gomez came to town a day earlier than originally planned, and it wasn't to sightsee at the Lexington horse farms. Gomez, who was scheduled to ride Dreaming of Anna in the Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup on Saturday, was here to once again experience the thrill of getting aboard Ravel.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Quijano, winner of the Group 1 Grosser Preis von Baden at Germany's Baden-Baden last time out, checked in early Thursday evening for Sunday's $2omillion Canadian International.

As of Friday, the list of candidates for the Grade 1 Canadian International, a 1 1/2-mile turf race for 3-year-olds and up, numbered 13 horses.

European shippers Ask, Honolulu, Irish Wells, and Oracle West were scheduled to arrive late Sunday.

PORTLAND, Ore. - The better 3-year-old fillies at this stand will need to grow up fast. With the exception of the one-mile Oregon Hers Stakes on Dec. 9, which is restricted to Oregon-breds, there will be no stakes or invitational handicaps in which current 3-year-old fillies can race against their peers. They will all be for 3-year-olds and up until the first of the year, when there will be a new crop of 3-year-olds.

Peppers Pride, the undefeated filly who is 11 for 11, could make her next start on 11/11. Trainer Joel Marr said Peppers Pride is being pointed for the New Mexico Cup program at Zia Park on Nov. 11. She is a candidate for the $170,000 Filly and Mare Championship.

Peppers Pride last raced July 29, winning the $45,000 Lincoln Handicap at Ruidoso Downs by a half-length. She was set to run in August, but the race she was entered in did not fill, and Marr said a decision was made to freshen her for fall races such as the New Mexico Cup.

Going Ballistic, who pulled a mild upset last month in the Grade 2 Super Derby, figures to be favored next week in the $300,000 Oklahoma Derby. Nominations for the Oct. 21 race at Remington Park were to close late Friday. Going Ballistic is one of a handful of early probables for the 1o1/8-mile derby, which also is expected to attract Forty Acres.

STICKNEY, Ill. - Eddie Razo's name doesn't take up much space in the Breeders' Cup 2007 media guide. There he is, in the list of every jockey ever to ride in the event, the eighth-place finisher aboard Black Tie Affair in the 1989 Sprint.

But Razo, 41, is Breeders' Cup-bound for the second time, and from the feeling Miss Macy Sue gave him Friday morning, he'll be in the inaugural Filly and Mare Sprint with a live horse.