In addition to the quartet of juvenile stakes at Fair Grounds, the Santa Super Saturday card offered opportunities for the older brigade as well. Chief among them was Grade 1 veteran Two Emmys.

Skippylongstocking has long shown flashes of talent. Now he’s a millionaire thanks to a runaway triumph in Friday’s Charles Town Classic (G2).

Fair Grounds standouts Just Might and Chess Chief were among the shining stars during Sunday's stakes-packed card at the New Orleans oval.

Speed reigned in both stakes on opening day at Fair Grounds, as Just Might wired the Thanksgiving Classic and front-running Breeze Rider fought back in the Joseph R. Peluso Memorial.

Three stakes on the Saturday evening card at Churchill Downs produced exciting finishes with potential Breeders’ Cup implications.

The Belmont Stakes Racing Festival opened Thursday with a trio of black-type events. While Con Lima rolled at 8.30-1 in the Wonder Again S. (G3), Change of Control went off at a much shorter 1.45-1 in the Intercontinental S. (G3), and Happy Soul aired as a prohibitive odds-on favorite in the Astoria S.

Juliet Foxtrot capitalized as the controlling speed in the Jenny Wiley S. (G1) on a rainy Saturday at Keeneland, while Silver Dust was determined in the Ben Ali S. (G3), and Change of Control sprang an upset in the Giant’s Causeway.