ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Power Phil will pass up Sunday’s Queen’s Plate in favor of Woodbine’s allowance feature Friday, when he will make his first start on turf over nine furlongs against nonwinners-of-three Ontario-sired opposition.

Power Phil capped his promising 2-year-old campaign with a nose loss to the talented Plate prospect Pyrite Mountain in the restricted Kingarvie Stakes on Dec. 2. After a winter vacation until April 21, Power Phil ran evenly for third over a speed-favoring track in the six-furlong Woodstock Stakes, which was won by a rejuvenated Dan the Tin Man.

OPELOUSAS, La. – For the first time since 2009, a horse other than Star Guitar is going to win Saturday night’s Louisiana Legends Classic at Evangeline Downs. The four-time reigning Louisiana-bred Horse of the Year retired shortly after winning the 2012 Classic, capping a brilliant career that saw him win 24 of 30 starts while amassing more than $1.7 million in earnings.

ALTOONA, Iowa – Friday’s $60,000 Iowa Stallion Futurity at Prairie Meadows provides a golden opportunity for 12 nominated and still-eligible 2-year-olds to scoop a big prize in their nascent careers.

With 10 combined lifetime starts amongst them, the Futurity field presents a handicapping challenge for those inclined to assess precocity and workout patterns.

OCEANPORT, N.J. – Trainer Bruce Alexander feels that Tune Me In was the wrong horse in the wrong spot when he ran the gray gelding in the Grade 2 Monmouth Stakes last month. The $75,000 Elkwood Stakes at one mile on turf at Monmouth Park on Friday should be a much better fit.

“I like the way it looks,” Alexander said. “It’s certainly not a pushover for him. He’s going to have to run his best, or damn close to it.”

After a slow opening week that saw him win only four races, Russell Baze warmed up the second week of the Pleasanton meet, capping it off with a four-win day Sunday that left him with 11,988 victories. Baze could become the first North American rider to reach 12,000 wins this weekend or at the California State Fair meet, which begins next Friday.

He was the Pleasanton meet’s leading rider into Thursday with 13 victories from 43 mounts. He was named on seven mounts Thursday and was scheduled to ride six more Friday.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. – Midnight Music is racing for two these days. Earlier this year, according to trainer Tom Proctor, she was bred to the stallion Lonhro and is carrying a foal. But she can still race, and race she will Friday night, when she makes her second start of the year in the $70,000-added Lucie Manet Stakes at Betfair Hollywood Park.

Closing week of the Alameda County Fair in Pleasanton, Calif., began Thursday with the meet’s richest stakes, the $75,000 Casual Lies, and continues Saturday with the $50,000-added Everett Nevin Stakes for 2-year-olds and Sunday with the $50,000-added Juan Gonzalez Memorial Stakes for 2-year-old fillies.

Eight 2-year-old fillies, four winners and four maidens, were nominated to the 5 1/2-furlong Juan Gonzalez, which is Northern California’s first stakes race for 2-year-old fillies.

Millionaire West Virginia-bred Russell Road, making a rare stakes appearance away from his home track of Charles Town, outfought pacesetter Whatthecatdrugin during a spirited stretch duel to narrowly prevail in the $75,000 Independence Day Stakes at Mountaineer Racetrack on Tuesday evening.

Both the Independence Day and its companion stakes for the fillies and mares, the Firecracker, were shifted from turf to a main track rated good.

Purses at the five-day Kentucky Downs meet in September will average about $900,000 per card, with the meet centerpiece, the Grade 3, $400,000 Kentucky Turf Cup, being packaged with four $150,000 stakes on a Sept. 14 program being called Kentucky Downs Million Day.

The inflated purses at turf-only Kentucky Downs are being fueled by revenues from Instant Racing machines. Some maiden races will be worth $90,000, including bonuses from the Kentucky Thoroughbred Development Fund.

The Kentucky Downs dates are Sept. 7, 11, 14, 18, and 25.

Bakken Baby, a 2-year-old filly who earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 79 for her maiden special weight win at Lone Star on June 28, is being freshened and ultimately will point for a division of the Texas Stallion Stakes this fall at Retama Park, trainer Karl Broberg said.

The San Antonio-area track opens its meet in October.

“She’s a Texas-bred, and there’s no spots for her right now,” Broberg said. “We’re just going to kick her out for a while.”