ARCADIA, Calif. - Irish Bar will be a deserving favorite for trainer Dan Hendricks on Saturday in the $125,000 California Cup Juvenile, while the best California-bred 2-year-old trained by Hendricks will aim for a bigger pot next month. Brother Derek, a creditable fourth in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile on Saturday, runs next in the Grade 3, $1 million Delta Jackpot on Dec. 2, or the Grade 1, $250,000 Hollywood Futurity on Dec. 17.

ALBANY, Calif. - The eight-horse field for Thursday's Golden Gate Fields feature, an optional $25,000 claiming sprint at six furlongs, is evenly divided between 3-year-olds on the way up and older claiming types.

Trainer Steve Specht may have the one to beat in Playin the Niners, a 3-year-old colt claimed for $32,000 in his debut. In five starts for Specht, Playin the Niners has won his last two races and finished second three times before that. But Specht knows that Playin the Niners has his work cut out for him on Thursday.

Handle was down marginally while attendance nearly set a record at the 17-day fall meet that ended Saturday at Keeneland in Lexington, Ky.

All-sources wagering grossed more than $124.9 million, down less than 1 percent from last fall, when nearly $125.8 million was bet at a 17-day meet. The per-day average handle was $7,348,363.

Ontrack handle, including imported simulcasts, grossed more than $26.7 million, for an average of $1,517,313, which was down 2.5 percent from last year.

The longtime chief of Philadelphia Park's gate crew has resigned after an incident on Sunday in which the starting gate failed to open for four of the seven horses in the race.

Russell Downes, 65, submitted his resignation on Monday, according to Hal Handel, the chief executive officer of Greenwood Racing, the owner of Philadelphia Park. Downes had worked at Philadelphia Park for "at least 20 years," Handel said.

The Bay Meadows Land Company, which owns and runs Bay Meadows as well as Hollywood Park, has hired the real estate broker Collier International to find a possible alternative location for Bay Meadows, company spokesman Adam Alberti confirmed Tuesday.

According to the San Mateo Daily Journal, the company is looking to possibly relocate Bay Meadows to an area where the land is less expensive and the community would be receptive to expanded gaming at the track.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - While First Samurai will be given a brief freshening before resurfacing in Florida for a winter campaign, most of the unusually deep class of Kentucky-based 2-year-olds will remain active through the end of this month.

First Samurai, third as the favorite in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile last weekend, is resting in Frank Brothers's barn at Churchill Downs, where two key graded stakes for 2-year-olds will be run this month: the Grade 3 Iroquois on Saturday and the Grade 2 Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes on Nov. 26.

As a result of the two hurricanes that damaged tracks in Louisiana between August and September, the makeup of the backstretch this winter at Oaklawn Park will be more diverse. Fair Grounds regulars Tom Amoss, Bret Calhoun, and Al Stall Jr. are among those trainers that have indicated an interest in having stalls at Oaklawn, and all would be new faces to the meet, which opens Jan. 20.

CHICAGO - On pedigree alone, there is no reason He's a Hunk can't win the featured fourth race on Thursday at Arlington. The race is at 1 1/16 miles, and although He's a Hunk hasn't raced around two turns, he's by Breeders' Cup Classic winner Awesome Again and out of a mare by the influential stallion Flying Paster. Everything says route - except his history.

But handicappers looking for a clear picture might be looking here in vain. The featured fourth, for second-level allowance horses, has no clear-cut favorite, no obvious winner. Just seven horses in varying shades of gray.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Southern California racing has been thrown into late-season disarray with the announcement from Hollywood Park that turf racing has been cancelled for its 31-day autumn meet, which begins next Wednesday.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Aqueduct was home for two winners on last Saturday's Breeders' Cup World Thoroughbred Championships program at Belmont Park. For the next six months, it will be home for the entire New York Racing Association circuit as racing shifts cross-town to the Big A beginning Wednesday and will stay here for the next six months.

Aqueduct's main track will be used for only 20 days before racing shifts to the winterized inner track on Nov. 30. Turf racing will continue as long as weather permits. First post is 12:30 p.m. daily with a few exceptions Thanksgiving weekend.