LOUISVILLE, Ky. - It's small consolation to Mike Pegram, but precisely five years after he incurred one of the most brutal beats in racing history, one of Pegram's horses scored a noteworthy victory Sunday at Churchill Downs.

STOCKTON, Calif. - The northern California fair racing season commences Wednesday at the San Joaquin County Fair, and despite a one-week overlap with Bay Meadows, entries are strong.

Wednesday's 10 races drew 103 horses, including 75 in seven Thoroughbred races. The Thursday card had 94 entrants, including 79 in eight Thoroughbred races.

SAN MATEO, Calif. - A maiden race with six 3-year-old fillies running six furlongs gets Wednesday's Bay Meadows card off to an interesting start.

Mango Escapade and Summer Star ran well in their debuts. Midnight Rhapsody showed promise in her last start when shipped north. Excess Star and Grace of Windsor each ran once as 2-year-olds in Southern California and are making their 3-year-old debuts, while A Queens Tale runs for the first time in her career.

OCEANPORT, N.J. - Wild Snitch again will try to get her season underway Wednesday in a $39,000 allowance, the feature race at Monmouth Park.

Trainer Ben Perkins Jr. picked out two previous spots for Wild Snitch, but both fell through. The Dearly Precious Stakes June 1 did not fill and Perkins scratched Wild Snitch out of an allowance race when the track came up sloppy.

Wild Snitch last raced in September in the Grade 1 Matron Stakes at Belmont Park, finishing second to eventual champion Storm Flag Flying. Wild Snitch is unbeaten in two starts at Monmouth.

NORTH RANDALL, Ohio - The Thistledown stewards have suspended jockey Mike Rowland for 30 days for "failure to obtain a satisfactory ride" in the fourth race on June 2.

In the race on June 2, Rowland was riding 1-5 favorite Gold Scepter for trainer W. John Bourke. When the bell rang, Gold Scepter bore in, hitting the side of the gate. She trailed the entire race and finished last, beaten 21 1/4 lengths.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Nothing went according to plan for Too Late Now in Sunday's Labatt Woodbine Oaks.

Nothing, that is, except the result, as Too Late Now had enough left to fend off an onrushing Seeking the Ring and win the $500,000 Oaks by a rapidly diminishing neck.

"It was getting very squeaky at the end," said Jim Day, who bred Too Late Now and trains the filly for the Come By Chance Stable of his mother, Edna Arrow.

Day's worries actually began the moment the gates opened for the Oaks.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Versatile 4-year-old Brass in Pocket should be an off-the-pace threat as the 124-pound highweight in Wednesday's $128,875 Ballade Stakes at Woodbine.

The six-furlong sprint for Ontario-sired fillies and mares has drawn a strong field of six, including Mysterious Affair, who is nearing $1 million in earnings.

CALGARY, Alberta - Predictably, Sly Lady captured the Duchess of York at Stampede Park last Saturday, completing a sweep of the three filly and mare stakes at this meet. On Sunday, They Call Me Cody was an upset winner of the Herald Gold Plate.

Sly Lady faced just three rivals in the Duchess of York. The outcome of the 1 1/16-mile race was never in doubt as jockey Real Simard had the 4-year-old filly on cruise control in a wire-to-wire effort, and she was never threatened.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. - By the time Quero Quero left the paddock for Saturday's Grade 2 Honeymoon Breeders' Cup Handicap at Hollywood Park, her trainer, Paulo Lobo, was in desperate need of a boost.

Earlier in the day, Lobo lost a member of his small stable when Belardinha died of internal injuries in an accident in the stable area.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. - A strong performance by any of the 3-year-olds in Wednesday's Hollywood Park feature could result in a start in the Oceanside Stakes on opening day at Del Mar, July 23.

Plenty of colts and geldings have a chance to make a positive impression in Wednesday's $51,000 optional claimer on turf.