The highly anticipated confrontation between two-time champion AB What a Runner and Vessels Maturity winner Mongoose Jet Eye will take place in the Grade 1, $100,000 Mildred Vessels Handicap for females at 400 yards on Saturday night at Los Alamitos. The result will determine the leader in the aged mare division.

Bullions N Garters will be shooting for her fifth straight win in the Grade 3, $58,200 Altoona Derby, the highlight of the Quarter Horse Festival of Racing on Saturday night at Prairie Meadows.

Bullions N Garters comes off a fastest-qualifier performance in the Altoona Derby trials, 20.12 seconds for the 400 yards.

Also on the Saturday night card is the Grade 2, $150,650 Valley Junction Futurity. Dashin Belladonna comes off an impressive trial victory and the fastest trial time, 17.62 seconds for the 350 yards.

New Mexico-bred juveniles will be divided by gender when they race in the Grade 3, $98,000 Senorita Futurity and the Grade 3, $94,000 Senor Futurity at the New Mexico State Fair on Saturday afternoon.

Double Down Baby tops the Senorita Futurity for fillies. She has won three of four career starts, including setting the fastest qualifying time of 19.82 seconds for 400 yards in her trial.

Gotta Get, the probable favorite in the Senor Futurity for colts and geldings, scored his third win in five starts, setting the fastest qualifying time of 19.66 seconds for 400 yards.

Imperialism will be the most proven horse in Saturday's Grade 2, $500,000 Super Derby at Louisiana Downs, but there are a couple of challenges he must overcome. Not only will Imperialism be making his first-ever start following a layoff, he will also be wearing a new set of blinkers, which is significant because his vision in his right eye has long been impaired.

ELMONT, N.Y. - A minor lung infection has put plans for the promising 2-year-old New York-bred on hold, but his next start will likely come in a stakes.

Dominic Schettino, who trains Galloping Grocer for Bob Rosenthal and Bernice Waldbaum, said the lung infection was detected when the horse underwent a routine endoscopic examination after his last race, a 12 1/2-length victory in a statebred allowance race last Friday at Belmont.

"On a scale of 1 to 10, he was a 3 1/2," Schettino said. "It wasn't insignificant."

ELMONT, N.Y. - After tussling with Grade 1 winners in the Saratoga Breeders' Cup last month, Alumni Hall finds himself faced with an easier assignment on Thursday at Belmont Park.

Alumni Hall and Colita look like the horses to beat in an optional claimer that drew a solid field of eight older males. None of the horses are entered for the $100,000 claiming price.

Rochester, the two-time defending champion, is expected back again Saturday to compete in the $200,000 Kentucky Cup Turf, the richest of four Kentucky Cup grass races at Kentucky Downs in Franklin, Ky.

Pat Day is scheduled to be aboard Rochester in the Grade 3 Turf, a 1 1/2-mile race that highlights what is easily the biggest day of live racing each year at turf-only Kentucky Downs. Rochester won the 2002 Turf by 2 1/2 lengths, then was awarded victory last year after the disqualification of Art Variety. Eddie Martin Jr. rode Rochester both times.

POMONA, Calif. - A motley cast of 2-year-olds entered the $60,000 Gateway to Glory Stakes on Thursday at Fairplex Park. Bettors able to find the winner of the 1 1/16-mile race will be suitably rewarded, because the race lacks a legitimate favorite.

MIAMI - Trainer Manny Azpurua's 2004 campaign got off to a rocky start to say the least. After guiding Sir Oscar through a perfect 2-year-old season, which included a sweep of the Florida Stallion Stakes, Azpurua had the young prospect removed from his barn by the horse's owner the morning after the colt suffered his first career defeat in the Grade 2 Fountain of Youth Stakes on Feb. 14.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Sky Diamond will look to extend his win streak to three races in Thursday's Woodbine headliner, an $80,000 optional claimer for 3-year-olds and up.

Sky Diamond was an inconsistent sprinter when owner Roger Patten and trainer Sid Attard claimed him from Sam-Son Farm and trainer Mark Frostad for $35,000 on July 11. He ended up sixth that day, finishing some 10 lengths behind the winner, X Box.