SAN MATEO, Calif. – Bwana Bull ($4), farther back early than either trainer Jerry Hollendorfer or jockey Russell Baze anticipated, closed strongly through the lane to catch Freesgood and win the Grade 3, $200,000 El Camino Real Derby at Bay Meadows on Saturday.

The victory, which followed his win in the California Derby, kept Bwana Bull on the Kentucky Derby trail. It marked the second straight year that Hollendorfer swept northern California’s two derbies. Kentucky Derby entrant Cause to Believe won both last year.

ARCADIA, Calif. – Balance is back, with a vengeance. The resolute 4-year-old filly overcame a compromising trip in the Grade 1 Santa Margarita Handicap on Saturday at Santa Anita, where she won the $300,000 race by a half-length and confirmed her status as one of the country’s top fillies or mares.

By MARY RAMPELLINI

Tony Patterson has resigned as racing secretary of Louisiana Downs in Bossier City, La., said Mark Midland, the track's vice president of racing operations, on Saturday. Patterson's final day will be March 24, which is the last day of entries for the current Quarter Horse meet, said Midland. The season ends on March 27.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - High Again, no match for Christmas Kid four weeks earlier in the Davona Dale Stakes, turned the tables Saturday at Gulfstream Park, surging past that rival in the final sixteenth of a mile to register a 1 1/2-length triumph in the Grade 2 $150,000 Bonnie Miss Stakes.

NEW ORLEANS- Mistical Plan used her speed to fashion a gate-to-wire score Saturday in the Grade 2, $400,000 Fair Grounds Oaks, immediately moving her into consideration for the Kentucky Oaks.

Jockey Corey Nakatani broke Mistical Plan alertly from her rail position and they led every step of the way. Nakatani had her running easily through fractions of 23.57 and 46.99 seconds with Appealing Zophie chasing her on the outside.

"She was getting some pressure, but my main goal was to let her be comfortable," said Nakatani.

NEW ORLEANS - What a difference a trip makes. Circular Quay, who ran into a roadblock four weeks ago at Fair Grounds in the Risen Star Stakes, returned to the scene of the crime Saturday, avoided any traffic jams, and rolled to a 2 1/4-length victory in the Grade 2, $600,000 Louisiana Derby.

STICKNEY, Ill. - Bluesbdancing ran straight as a string through the stretch run of the Regal Rumor Stakes on Saturday at Hawthorne, and her trajectory might have made all the difference.

Modjadji and jockey Chris Emigh lurked at the fence, waiting for a hole to open somewhere in the stretch, but Bluesbdancing, under jockey Eddie Perez, seized the lead at the quarter pole and never drifted.

Modjadji could have squeezed through at some point, scraping paint, but Bluesbdancing stayed strong, defeating her fellow Illinois-bred by a length in the $48,375 Regal Rumor.

Half Heaven, upset as the favorite by Ella Belle in the Feb. 10 Likely Exchange Stakes at Turfway Park, avenged the loss to that rival in the $50,000 Wintergreen Stakes, scoring a comfortable 1 1/2-length victory.

Istan withstood a determined bid from 20-1 Anglers Reef through the stretch to get up by a head and win the $65,000 Challenger Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs.

Under Jose Ferrer, Istan covered 1 1/16 miles over a fast racing strip in 1:43.64 to post his second win for trainer Bill Mott since coming to the United States. He returned $8.40 as the second choice in the field of eight older runners.

Odds-on favorite Silmaril gave her backers some anxious moments before she prevailed by a neck in the $75,000 Conniver Stakes at Laurel Park.