Even Keeneland must pick its battles. After years of having one of its top grass races, the WinStar Galaxy, struggle to lure the elite Breeders' Cup-bound turf mares, the track opted out of direct competition with the Flower Bowl and Yellow Ribbon Stakes.

LEXINGTON, Ky. - When racing fans think about final preps for the Breeders' Cup Sprint, they probably think Vosburgh or Ancient Title or Phoenix. Hardly anyone, except Chuck Simon, thinks of the Woodford County Stakes, a 5 1/2-furlong grass race to be run Sunday on the Spinster undercard at Keeneland.

"It's unconventional, yes," said Simon, who will send out Battle Won as a huge favorite in the $100,000 Woodford County. "But it seems like the best plan to get him to New York."

LEXINGTON, Ky. - The old and the young had their way Friday on a blustery opening day of the Keeneland fall meet. An hour after 9-year-old Rochester drove to victory in the Sycamore Breeders' Cup, She Says It Best earned her way into the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies with a front-running triumph in the $400,000 .

ELMONT, N.Y. - The last time trainer Tim Tullock shipped Sensibly Chic from Maryland to Belmont Park for a 6 1/2-furlong stakes race, the 5-year-old mare ran the best race of her career, winning the Grade 2 Vagrancy Handicap by 3 1/2 lengths on June 12.

Tullock said he hopes for a similar performance on Sunday when Sensibly Chic returns to New York to run in the Grade 2, $150,000 Gallant Bloom Handicap at 6 1/2 furlongs over Belmont's main track.

ELMONT, N.Y. - Afleet Alex convinced his connections that he's ready to return to the races next week by putting in another strong workout Friday morning over Belmont Park's main track.

With regular rider Jeremy Rose in the irons, Afleet Alex worked four furlongs in 46.02 seconds, the fastest of 42 works at the distance. The next-fastest clocking was 47.62 seconds. Afterward, Rose declared Afleet Alex fit and ready to run.

ARCADIA, Calif. - The fastest California-bred 2-year-old, Bro Lo, is on the shelf with a chipped ankle, and the most accomplished California-bred 2-year-old, Brother Derek, is headed for the Breeders' Cup. Their absences leave a modest field of six statebred juveniles to run for a $75,000 purse in the Cavonnier Stakes on Sunday at Santa Anita.

The first North America race meet with the all-weather Polytrack surface ended with decreases in wagering handle, but officials at Turfway Park said they were "thoroughly satisfied" with the 22-day fall meet that ended Thursday night at the Florence, Ky., track.

AUBURN, Wash. - Light My Ducks will return to her best game on Sunday when she heads a field of six fillies and mares in the Emerald Downs feature, a six-furlong test to be run under $25,000 optional claiming conditions.

VANCOUVER, British Columbia - After the Knight looks like a standout in the feature race at Hastings Sunday. The 1 1/16-mile allowance race for 3-year-old fillies drew five horses, including last year's local 2-year-old filly champ, Backseat Becka. It goes as the sixth race.

After the Knight has won only two races in her 13-race career, but she is coming off of a dominating performance in an optional $50,000 route Sept. 17, and if she comes close to repeating that effort, they probably aren't going to beat her.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - The Roger Attfield-trained uncoupled entry of Palladio and Ablo will both run in Sunday's $164,550 Ontario Derby, a nine-furlong race for 3-year-olds at Woodbine.

Palladio, a leading candidate for this year's Sovereign Award as champion 3-year-old, captured the Grade 2 Ohio Derby in July under a strong ride from Richard Dos Ramos. He failed to duplicate that performance in his two most recent races, finishing a well-beaten fifth in the Grade 1 Haskell at Monmouth, and seventh on the turf in the Grade 3 Saranac at Saratoga.