SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - When it comes to consistency, there are few fillies who fit the term better than Sweet Talker. A Grade 1 winner, Sweet Talker has not finished worse than second in her last nine starts dating back to May 2005, and as a result, she figures to go off as the favorite in Saturday's Grade 2, $200,000 Ballston Spa Stakes at Saratoga.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Larry Jones has had more than his fair share of success with 3-year-old fillies in New York, winning major stakes with Island Sand, Hello Liberty, and Wildcat Bettie B. But the Delaware-based trainer had never won a race at Saratoga until Wildcat Bettie B rallied from last to beat G City Gal by one length in Thursday's $100,000 .

"I had to bring a Grade 1 winner into a Grade 3 race to finally win one at Saratoga," Jones said with a smile after the Victory Ride.

When it was announced earlier this year that Fairmount Park would hold the $250,000 St. Louis Derby, a race funded entirely by a private donation from the locally based Circle C Stables, the hope was that the race would attract a marquee member of the 3-year-old division.

Fortunately, the timing of Saturday night's race worked out well for trainer Bob Holthus, who preferred an easier race than the Travers to kick off the fall campaign of his star colt Lawyer Ron.

DEL MAR, Calif. - Aragorn ran a nearly perfect race in the Grade 1 Eddie Read Handicap at Del Mar on July 23. He stalked the pace, circled the front-runners, and won by four lengths in course-record time of 1:44.79 for 1 1/8 miles on turf.

With that performance as his most recent outing, Aragorn will be heavily favored in Saturday's $400,000 Del Mar Breeders' Cup Mile on turf. What is even more frightening for the connections of his seven rivals is that Aragorn is thriving as the summer comes to a close, trainer Neil Drysdale said.

CHICAGO - Two of the most accomplished Chicago-based sprinters, Fifteen Rounds and Coach Jimi Lee, haven't met since the summer of 2004. They meet Saturday in the Arlington Park Breeders' Cup Sprint, but that matchup is only part of a deep, potentially compelling edition of the major sprint race of the Arlington meet.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - In each of the last two years, trainer Nick Zito was the focal point heading into the $1 million Travers Stakes. This year, though Zito will be starting his 16th horse in the meet's showcase event, the Hall of Fame trainer seems relegated to footnote status.

Zito will run Hesanoldsalt in Saturday's $1 million Travers. A recent winner of a second-level allowance race, Hesanoldsalt figures to be a big longshot behind Bernardini and Bluegrass Cat in the Midsummer Derby.

DEL MAR, Calif. - Sinister Minister, an easy winner of the Blue Grass Stakes in April and the 16th-place finisher in the Kentucky Derby, is expected to return from a four-month layoff in the $100,000 El Cajon Stakes at Del Mar on Sept. 2, trainer Bob Baffert said.

The El Cajon, run at a mile on the main track, is developing into a promising race. The race is also a target for Brother Derek, who won the Santa Anita Derby and was fourth in the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes. Brother Derek has not started since the Preakness on May 20.

Hollywood Park has scheduled 22 stakes for its 36-day fall meeting, which runs from Nov. 1 through Dec. 18. The stakes slate is highlighted by the six-race Autumn Turf Festival, which was canceled last year because of poor turf conditions.

The six stakes of the Autumn Turf Festival, all graded, include three of the six Grade 1 races at the meeting - the Citation Handicap, Hollywood Derby, and Matriarch Stakes. The Turf Festival is held on Thanksgiving weekend, Nov. 24-26.

Fifty years ago, Thoroughbred racing on tracks less than one mile in circumference was commonplace in Maryland, with horsemen traveling a circuit that included Cumberland, Hagerstown, and Marlboro.

Timonium, which held its inaugural meet in September 1887, is the last surviving bullring in Maryland. The five-furlong track opens an eight-day meet Saturday in conjunction with the Maryland State Fair. First post time is 1:10 p.m. daily through Labor Day. There is no live racing on Aug. 28 or 29.

Sequoia King has yet to return much on the $525,000 investment owner Jess Jackson made at last year's Fasig-Tipton yearling sale at Saratoga. After easily winning his maiden at Keeneland this past April, Sequoia King has failed to win in three stakes starts, including twice as the favorite.

Despite his shortcomings, Sequoia King figures to be favored when he faces six other largely unproven 2-year-olds in Saturday's $54,000 Par Four Stakes at Delaware Park.