ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. - Campaigning Thoroughbred horses requires patience, and to win races on a regular basis requires either great luck or a vast arsenal of starters. But the gap between Mystery Giver's last two victories was extreme, even by this sport's standards. Some 27 months after he set a Fair Grounds turf course record when he won the Mervin Muniz Handicap in March 2004, Mystery Giver had his picture taken again after winning the seventh race here June 30 by a nose.

DEL MAR, Calif. - E Z Warrior, the leader of the 2-year-old male division in California, will miss Sunday's $150,000 Best Pal Stakes because of a sore shin, trainer Bob Baffert said Monday.

The injury will keep E Z Warrior out of racing for the remainder of the Del Mar meeting, Baffert said. He mentioned the $500,000 Champagne Stakes at a mile at Belmont Park on Oct. 14 as a long-term goal for E Z Warrior.

Owned by Zayat Stables, E Z Warrior won both of his starts at Hollywood Park earlier this year, including the Hollywood Juvenile Championship on July 4.

DEL MAR, Calif. - Plagued by pesky injuries, Mea Domina has made just 11 starts in her 30-month career. The lack of sustained racing has not kept her from achieving a level of brilliance.

has won six races, three of them stakes. Wednesday, Mea Domina will try for a fourth stakes win when she makes her first start since November in the $85,000 Osunitas Handicap at Del Mar. The Osunitas is a restricted stakes at 1 1/16 miles on turf for fillies and mares.

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. - The question remains whether English Channel, among the best U.S. grass horses, will be coming to Arlington Park this week for the Arlington Million, but already here and waiting for English Channel or any other major contender in the 24th Million is Phoenix Reach, an Irish-bred, English-based horse who may have to be reckoned with Saturday.

OCEANPORT, N.J. - Trainer Kelly Breen and jockey Joe Bravo, who both top the Monmouth Park meet standings, took a strong run Sunday at the Monmouth's biggest prize, the $1 million Haskell Invitational, with Praying for Cash.

Breen was confident Praying for Cash would run well, and he knew Bravo would get the most out of the colt. The end result: a pacesetting second behind the more experienced and Triple Crown-tested Bluegrass Cat.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The Rolling Stones will bring their worldwide "A Bigger Bang" concert tour next month to the home of the Kentucky Derby, Churchill Downs.

Churchill officials announced Monday that the legendary rock group will perform the evening of Sept. 29, and that about 50,000 tickets will be sold. Churchill is one of several historic sports venues the group will visit this fall.

Lord Kipling, invading from Canterbury Park, rallied strongly in deep stretch and posted a nose victory over favored The Max in the $100,000 Manitoba Lotteries Derby at Assiniboia Downs.

Trained by Amber Blair and ridden by Scott Stevens, Lord Kipling returned $10.70 as the second choice while making his first start at Assiniboia.

"He relaxed real well the first part; that was our only concern," said Stevens. "And, he finished real well."

Evangeline Downs was forced to cancel two of its races Saturday night after storm damage earlier in the day made it impossible to use the new seven-furlong chute, which the track began running races over last month.

The fourth and eighth races, scheduled to be run at 6 1/2 and seven furlongs, respectively, were called off after high winds toppled a fence separating the chute from the barn area.

The storm scattered additional debris around the facility, delaying the start of the card approximately an hour and 40 minutes until 8:20 p.m. Central.

Hide and Chic, off since November and making her first start on turf, returned $98.10 while winning the Grade 3 at Woodbine on Monday.

Hide and Chic rallied inside from midpack under jockey David Clark, and overhauled Financingavailable in deep stretch to score by a neck. Society Hostess, the favored New York invader, finished another half-length back in third after stalking a rapid pace set by Becky Sharp. Count to Three was a close fourth in the 11-horse field of fillies and mares.

The San Mateo County Fair at Bay Meadows, which begins a 12-day run on Wednesday, is sometimes the victim of attrition in the horse ranks. Horses have been shipping to California's various fair meets to race, and by the end of the summer the number of available runners can run thin. But that's not a problem this year.