ARCADIA, Calif. - Purses for the current Oak Tree at Santa Anita meeting have been increased by six percent, retroactive to opening day, Sept. 26, track officials said Wednesday.

The announcement was made at the draw breakfast for the California Cup by Sherwood Chillingworth, Oak Tree's executive vice-president. The increase adds approximately $480,000 to purses, or $15,000 per day. The meeting concludes Monday.

"I thought with all the horsemen there I wanted to give them a shot in the arm," Chillingworth said of the timing of the announcement.

STICKNEY, Ill. - Although it generated a relatively small pool, Hawthorne's $50,000 guaranteed pick six was hit Wednesday on the first day of the track's fall meet.

The pick-six pool of $8,920 was way short of covering the guarantee, and Hawthorne was forced to make up the difference. One winning ticket, worth $37,606.80, was sold. The guaranteed pool is taxed at a 25 percent rate.

MIAMI - Two Item Limit was the only representative from Calder Racecourse at Saturday's World Thoroughbred Championships, and the 3-year-old filly did her local supporters proud, finishing third in the Breeders' Cup Distaff for owner Joseph Graffeo and trainer Steve DiMauro.

STICKNEY, Ill. - It's the rare top-quality horse that makes his way to Hawthorne in November, but fans here might see a stakes horse in the making on Friday. Cashel Castle, a standout 2-year-old winner early last month at Arlington, makes his second start in the ninth race, a first-level sprint allowance for juveniles.

Cole Norman, the nation's third leading trainer by wins, last week set a new standard for victories in a season at Louisiana Downs. But he will slow down markedly after the current meet ends Nov. 11 - just as he did last year. Norman plans to make a limited number of starts with his stable for the remainder of the year in order to refresh his barn for the meet at Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs, Ark., which opens Jan. 25.

"Some will remain in training at Louisiana Downs, and some will be turned out," said Norman. "We'll go to Oaklawn on Jan. 1."

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - With necessity being the mother of invention, the Churchill Downs Distaff has developed into a nice little race since its 1986 inception.

Designed partly as an early-meet prep for the Falls City Handicap and partly as a stand-alone race for fillies and mares with a preference for a one-turn mile, the Distaff now is a Grade 2 event, surpassing the more historic Falls City, a 1 1/8-mile race that carries a Grade 3 ranking.

SAN MATEO, Calif. - Double Shot Latte, a good third in her comeback try on Oct. 19, looms the one to beat in Friday's $32,000 allowance feature at six furlongs for fillies and mares at Bay Meadows.

Double Shot Latte, conditioned by Jeff Bonde, has made only six starts in her career. She has posted one win, three seconds, and a third and seems in a good spot to add to that total. Double Shot Latte began her 2001 season in February at Santa Anita with a strong second, beaten just three-quarters of a length in an allowance race.

ELMONT, N.Y. - As he has attempted to do in each of the past three years, Affirmed Success will try to rid a sour Breeders' Cup experience with a sweet cigar.

Affirmed Success, who finished 11th in the Breeders' Cup Mile, will return to dirt in the Grade 1 $350,000 Cigar Mile at Aqueduct on Nov. 24. It will be

the fourth consecutive year Affirmed Success has run in the Cigar, a race he won in 1999. In 1998, Affirmed Success finished second in the Cigar Mile and a year ago he finished third after enduring a troubled trip.

JAMAICA, N.Y. - Evening Attire played a nasty Halloween trick on horseplayers Wednesday, rallying along the inside to upset the Grade 3 $109,300 Discovery Handicap by one length at odds of 65-1 before an opening-day crowd of 3,536 at Aqueduct.

Street Cry, the 4-5 favorite, hung in for second, 1 3/4 lengths ahead of Free of Love.

Eddie Cox Jr. is set to defend his title Friday night in the second annual American Quarter Horse Association Jockey Championship at Lone Star Park in Grand Prairie.

The winner is determined by the highest number of points from four starter allowance races at distances from 350 to 550 yards.

Cox's mounts have earned more than $1.2 million this year, and he is the regular rider of Shining Sky, the top 2-year-old in Texas.