Horse Racing News by Marty McGee

Six days after being at Monmouth Park to send out Lookin At Lucky to win the Grade 1 Haskell Invitational, trainer Bob Baffert will be staying home at Del Mar when his stable goes after another rich stakes for 3-year-olds back East.

Jamie Ness was a press box intern when the first Claiming Crown was run in 1999 at Canterbury Park.

Paddy O'Prado has been assigned post 7 in a field of eight 3-year-olds entered in the Grade 2, $600,000 Virginia Derby, the Colonial Downs showcase set for Saturday.

Change and survive. That's the mode Ellis Park continues to find itself in, with the 2010 summer meet starting Saturday amid the familiar call for alternative gaming and a pared-down racing schedule.

If Speed Demon is to pull a mild upset Saturday in the Grade 3 Bashford Manor Stakes at Churchill Downs, he most likely will have to pay closer attention to business than in his last start.

Johnny Sellers, who rode Carry Back to victory in the 1961 Kentucky Derby and Preakness and was inducted into the National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame in 2007, died early Friday morning in an Arkansas nursing home, according to his son Mark.

After mulling all the options, trainer D. Wayne Lukas decided Thursday to enter 2009 Kentucky Derby winner Mine That Bird in the Grade 2, $175,000 Firecracker Handicap, the closing-day feature Sunday at Churchill Downs.

When the Saturday overnight sheet came out Wednesday at Churchill Downs, the most important news wasn't what was on it - even though a pair of Grade 3 races are on tap.

The 2009 Horse of the Year and the 2009 Kentucky Derby winner were sent through solo five-furlong breezes two hours apart Monday morning at Churchill Downs when Rachel Alexandra went in 1:03 and Mine That Bird went in 59.80 seconds.

What else could she have going for her? Salty Strike exits a key maiden race. She has the best Beyer Speed Figure in the field.