AUBURN, Wash. - Jockey Mick Ruis got off on the wrong foot at this meeting. He rode only two winners from his first 42 mounts at the stand, then he was suspended for six racing days for questionable rides on the Doris Harwood-trained Odessa Beach and the Steve Bullock-trained Fabadabado. When he left to visit family in California during his suspension, few expected him to return.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – The Woodbine Oaks generally has been a provincial affair, with the bulk of the field comprised of fillies born and raced in Ontario.

There has been the odd exception as Ready and Alluring, second in 2005; Quick Blue, third in 2001; and Gal in a Ruckus, the 1995 winner, all were making their first Woodbine appearances in the Oaks.

This year’s running of the 1 1/8-mile race for Canadian-bred 3-year-old fillies boasts no fewer than four candidates who would be making their Woodbine debuts.

GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas - Silent Pleasure, who was scratched from the Grade 3, $400,000 Lone Star Park Handicap after an apparent spider bite, could move into Grade 1 company for his next start, his co-owner and trainer Howard Scarberry said.

MIAMI - A potential starting berth in next month's Grade 3 Azalea Breeders' Cup Stakes could be up for grabs here Thursday when the undefeated and untested 3-year-old filly Just for Keeps faces older horses while also stretching out to seven furlongs for the first time in the $28,000 allowance feature.

Officials at Finger Lakes have reached an agreement with the connections of Funny Cide to raise the purse of the Wadsworth Memorial Handicap from $50,000 to $100,000 in order to lure the 2003 Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner to the western New York facility.

Viva Pataca handed Vengeance of Rain a second successive thrashing in the Group 1, $1 million Hong Kong Champions & Chater Cup at Sha Tin on Sunday to establish himself as Hong Kong's leading racehorse. Viva Pataca was repeating his victory over Vengeance of Rain in the Group 1 Queen Elizabeth II Cup. Trained by John Moore and ridden by Michael Kinane, the winner covered the 1 1/2 miles in 2:24.60 on good to firm ground as the 3-2 favorite.

OCEANPORT, N.J. - Chris DeCarlo is off to a sensational start at Monmouth Park, making the most of limited opportunities.

Joe Bravo, not surprisingly, leads the jockey standings through the first 10 days of the meet. "Jersey Joe" is setting the pace with 19 wins from 67 mounts.

DeCarlo is sitting second, with 14 victories from only 32 mounts - bagging winners at a 43 percent clip. It certainly helps that Todd Pletcher, DeCarlo's main Monmouth client, came out firing.

Pletcher leads the trainer standings with nine wins, all ridden by DeCarlo.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Saskawea and Suva both turned in sizzling six-furlong works here last weekend in preparation for Sunday's $500,000 Woodbine Oaks.

Saskawea, with regular rider Justin Stein in the irons, was caught in 1:11.60 on Saturday, while Suva, under jockey Gerry Olguin, went in 1:11.40 on Sunday.

Saskawea and Suva are slated to be among the field of 10 expected to be entered Thursday for the Woodbine Oaks, a 1 1/8-mile race for Canadian-bred 3-year-old fillies.

ELMONT, N.Y. - Participating in Saturday's Belmont Stakes is a homecoming of sorts for Florida-based trainer Bill Kaplan.

Kaplan, who will saddle Imawildandcrazyguy in the Belmont, is a native of Brooklyn and spent the first 30 years of his life in New York. He attended Midwood High School in Brooklyn and went to college at Long Island University, graduating with a degree in accounting. He eventually went to work in Manhattan for the accounting firm Arthur Andersen.

ALBANY, Calif. - In an era of early retirement and a rush to the breeding shed, Boss Ego is an anomaly.

Though a full horse and a stakes winner, Boss Ego was still running - and winning - this year at age 11. But his career on the racetrack came to an end after he finished seventh in a $16,000 claimer on March 17 at Golden Gate. His final victory, the 14th of his career, came Feb. 15 in a $10,000 claimer at Bay Meadows.