--Keeneland Scholarship Day on Friday was termed a huge success by officials at the Lexington racetrack after more than 600 college students registered to win nine $1,000 scholarships that were selected by drawings throughout the day. The winning students include Jeff Turok, Jessica Jones, Ryan Phillips, Dan Brown, Liza Zbikowski, and Carole Etherington from the University of Kentucky; Sara Skalley from Midway College, and Kyle Drummer and Jared Heilig from Lexington Community College. A tenth scholarship for students involved in the racing industry was won by Jeff Zinner of Eastern Kentucky University, who is employed at the Keeneland Gift Shop warehouse. The scholarship day was a joint effort between Keeneland and the Kentucky Thoroughbred Association.

--Two-year-old Oklahoma-bred Hangonslopey is living testimony to the courage of the Thoroughbred. The spunky chestnut son of Cuzzin Jeb, who won his career debut by two lengths in a five-furlong maiden claiming event at Remington Park on October 3, entered the world during the spring of 2000 with his career as a racehorse in doubt…and his life. "When he was foaled, we thought he was deformed because he looked like a giraffe," explained trainer Sherri Shepherd. "His hind legs were all bent forward, and it didn't look like they were going to straighten out. We talked about it quite a bit and we nearly had him put down after a couple of weeks because it looked so bad, and we didn't think he would ever recover." Hangonslopey made his second start on Saturday, but he finished fourth of ten in the sixth race, a six-furlong allowance race at the Oklahoma City track. Plans are for the youngster to take on yet another challenge: the turf at longer distances. "[Jockey] Robert Lester says he has the stride of a good turf horse," Shepherd said. "By the way he finished his first race, I think he'd love going 7 1/2 furlongs or farther, too. We'll just have to wait and see what's available for him."

--Total handle on Calder Race Course's 11th edition of the 13-race Festival of the Sun program on Saturday was $9,061,264, a significant increase from the $2,960,388 wagered on the inaugural program in 1992.

--Racing Hall of Fame jockey Pat Day will turn 49 years old on Sunday. As Keeneland's all-time leading rider with 826 victories there through Saturday, he is 563 wins ahead of Hall of Fame rider Earlie Fires, who incidentally scored his 100th Arlington Park stakes win on Saturday, aboard David Beard's Zydeco Affair in the $75,000 Manila Stakes.

--The Manila Jockey Club recently broke ground on the site of its new racetrack, the San Lazaro Leisure Park in Carmona, Cavite. Billed as a horse racing complex, entertainment facility, and upscale residential subdivision, the development will house the club's racing operations beginning in the first quarter of 2003. "We are honored to present to our industry partners the future home of the Manila Jockey Club, as well as our plans and programs to further boost the prestige and reputation of the club as a world-class and fully diversified company," Alfonso Reyno Jr., president of the Manile Jockey Club told the Phillippine Star.

--Tom Farley Jr., or "Charlie Chaplain" as he is sometimes called, sees to the spiritual and physical needs of his racetrack brethren at Turfway Park and Ellis Park. "The people here in the backstretch are often the only family they've got," Farley told the Cincinnati Post. "They don't have any support from the community whatsoever."