ALTOONA, Iowa – Prayer for Relief's 1 3/4-length triumph in Saturday night's Grade 3, $300,000 Prairie Meadows Cornhusker Handicap was a long-awaited and well-deserved win. The Steve Asmussen trainee, who hadn't won since he was trained by Bob Baffert in the 2011 Super Derby, carried his good 2013 form into the Cornhusker following a pair of runner-up finishes to stablemate Master Rick.

"It was great to get him in the winner's circle,” Asmussen said. “He has so much back class, and he was given a great ride.”

Maryland shipper Do It for Don collected his fourth straight wire-to-wire victory in Saturday’s $50,125 Oh Say Stakes for 3-year-old sprinters at Delaware Park.

Do It for Don ($4.20) set swift fractions of 21.75 and 44.32 seconds under Daniel Centeno and finished 4 1/2 lengths in front of 9-5 second choice Wynns Nighthawk while completing six furlongs in 1:08.84. Do It for Don, trained by William Komlo for M & D Stable, is 5 for 8 lifetime with earnings of $117,770. He has won his last four races by a combined 21 1/4 lengths.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Up With the Birds, the probable favorite for next Sunday’s $1 million Queen’s Plate, and stablemate His Race to Win had their final major tune-ups here Sunday morning.

Working in company, the pair was clocked in 1:00.60 for five furlongs, with regular rider Eurico Rosa da Silva doing the honors on Up With the Birds and exercise rider Chris Garraway piloting His Race to Win.

“All we have to do now is keep them healthy for another week,” said trainer Malcolm Pierce, who caught his workers galloping out six furlongs in 1:14.

Sensible Lady erased a four-length deficit in deep stretch to win the $50,000 Buckland Stakes for female sprinters for the second straight year Saturday night at Colonial Downs.

Nisteltoe, ridden by Luis Garcia, set all the pace in the 5 1/2-furlong turf sprint and was well in front at the stretch call. But the 4-year-old Sensible Lady ($3.60) rallied strongly on the outside when asked for her best run by jockey Xavier Perez and drove clear to win by 1 3/4 lengths. The final time over a course rated “good” was 1:02.85.

In the Fairway came within a few ticks of Charles Town’s track record for 4 1/2 furlongs in cruising to victory in Saturday night’s $50,750 Coin Collector Stakes for West Virginia-bred 3-year-olds.

Ridden by Jose Montano for trainer Jeff Runco and Runco’s Coleswood Farm, In the Fairway ($2.20) completed the distance in 50.66 seconds, just 0.57 seconds off the track record set by Immortal Eyes in 2011.

Confidently handled by Ricardo Santana Jr., Prayer for Relief stalked a modest pace in Saturday night’s Grade 3, $300,000 Prairie Meadows Cornhusker Handicap and powered past Taptowne in the stretch to win by 1 3/4 lengths.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Many of the victories for Wise Dan during his storybook career have been things of beauty.

Not this one.

“It wasn’t a very pretty race,” said a relieved Charlie LoPresti after Wise Dan, the 2012 Horse of the Year, managed to overcome a tough trip, soggy turf, and his 128-pound impost Saturday night in winning the 23rd running of the Grade 2, $168,450 Firecracker Handicap at Churchill Downs. “It wasn’t very pretty at all.”

Set up by a speed duel between favorites Our Double Play and Manando, longshot Looking Cool rallied from the rear half of the pack to edge Betweenhereandcool by a neck in Saturday night’s Grade 3, $250,000 Iowa Derby at Prairie Meadows.

Fifth of seven early as the field strung out behind contested fractions of 23.39 seconds, 46.99, and 1:11.54, the winner kicked into gear on the final turn. He then proved successful in a long stretch drive to narrowly catch runner-up Betweenhereandcool, who had taken the lead with 70 yards remaining.

Drawing the far-outside post in a field of 10 proved no hindrance for the favored Fiftyshadesofhay in the $200,000, Grade 3 Iowa Oaks at Prairie Meadows on Saturday night.

Hustled out of the gate by jockey Martin Garcia, she established a comfortable pressing position up close early, chasing So Many Ways through fractions of 23.12 seconds and 46.73 in the early stages of the 1 1/16-mile Iowa Oaks.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Jerry Robb knows his way around the racetrack, having trained for 40 years, but he had a tough time finding the winner’s circle Saturday night.

Robb is from Maryland and couldn’t be blamed for his unfamiliarity with the layout at Churchill Downs, where his latest stable star, Debt Ceiling, took far less time putting away his six opponents in the 112th running of the Grade 3, $107,700 Bashford Manor Stakes over a sloppy racetrack.