LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Imagine if the ninth race on Saturday at Churchill Downs were just any old race. Imagine if there were a horse who had won six times and finished second four times in 10 races, had won his last two starts, both key prep races, by a combined eight lengths, and had the benefit of two previous races at Churchill Downs, in which he ran first and second.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - A day after the Team Valor syndicate learned that their Windward Passage was being excluded from the Kentucky Derby due to the late entry of the Bob Baffert-trained Danthebluegrassman, they found a minor consolation.

In Thursday's $112,600 La Troienne Stakes for 3-year-old fillies at Churchill Downs, Cashier's Dream, owned by Team Valor and Bill Heiligbrodt, outfinished the Baffert-trained Shameful after a thrilling stretch run.

"We needed something good to happen," said Team Valor president Barry Irwin.

Business was down marginally at the 16-day spring meet that ended April 26 at Keeneland Race Course.

Aggregate all-sources handle set an all-time high, but the average daily handle of $8,478,506 was 2 percent below last spring, when 15 programs were conducted.

Likewise, aggregate ontrack attendance exceeded last spring's, but the average of 14,222 was down 3 percent.

Ontrack handle, which includes imported simulcasts, narrowly exceeded last spring's record average by going just over $1.7 million daily.

CALGARY, Alberta - Saturday's $40,000 Stampede Park Sprint Championship promises to be a competitive race, and a case can be made for each of the six entrants in the six-furlong handicap.

Timely Ruckus, winner of three of the past five Sprint Championships, comes of a poor showing in the prep, which was won by Tyko Tycoon.

Trainer Ernie Keller made no excuses for Timely Ruckus following his fifth-place effort in the prep, and readied his charge with a bullet three-furlong blowout of 35.20 May 1.

VANCOUVER, British Columbia - There are three stakes winners in Saturday's Hastings Park feature, an allowance race for 3-year-old fillies, but Classy Action, an optional claiming winner on opening day, could be the favorite.

Classic Action has raced only three times but she dominated a field of straight maidens last September and followed that up with a strong showing in her first start as a 3-year-old. Dave Forster trains Classic Action, a Kentucky-bred daughter of Mighty Action, and Frank Fuentes rides.

AUBURN, Wash. - Divisional leadership will be up for grabs on Saturday, when the local 3-year-olds get their first taste of stakes action in the $35,000 Auburn Stakes at six furlongs.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The connections of Windward Passage were more upset with Churchill Downs officials than they were with trainer Bob Baffert, whose 11th-hour entry of Danthebluegrassman prevented Windward Passage from getting into the Kentucky Derby field.

Barry Irwin, the president of the Team Valor syndicate that owns Windward Passage, said Churchill officials should have alerted him before 4:45 - 15 minutes before the draw for post positions - that his horse would not get in.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - In the last two years, Beat Hollow has raced against the world's top turf horses. He will need to draw from that experience in Saturday's $400,000 Woodford Reserve Turf Classic at Churchill Downs.

In 2000, Beat Hollow finished third in the English Derby. Race winner Sinndar later won the 2000 Arc de Triomphe. Runner-up Sahkee won the 2001 Arc and nearly beat Tiznow in last year's Breeders' Cup Classic.

Beat Hollow is now trained by Bobby Frankel, who is seeking his first win in the Woodford Reserve, which is run over 1 1/8 miles.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Their affinity for Churchill Downs and their tactical speed may give Gold Mover and Nasty Storm an edge Saturday in a competitive running of the $200,000 Humana Distaff, which has been elevated to a Grade 1 for the first time.

A field of 13 was entered for the seven-furlong race, but four horses had been cross-entered in other stakes, including two that were entered in Thursday's Mamzelle Stakes on turf.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - When James Bond turned 16, his father gave him a choice for a birthday present: a car or a horse.

Bond chose the horse. Bond's father claimed a filly named Passion for $1,500. Bond won a few races with her, but battled soundness problems with her for almost two years.

"I should have bought the car," Bond, now 44, said.