1.   Alex Solis was hot on opening day of the Oak Tree thoroughbred racing season at Santa Anita, riding a surprise stakes winner and an impressive maiden-breaker.

2.   F. Val, meanwhile, continued to show up and do his job, no easy task during the most grueling stretch of the Southern California thoroughbred season.

3.   LINING UP LONE STAR Lone Star Park at Grand Prairie opens its thoroughbred racing season Thursday.

4.   Lone Star general manager Steve Sexton confirmed this week that track management met with trainers before the end of the thoroughbred season to plan changes to the track.

5.   When the thoroughbred season starts Thursday at Lone Star Park at Grand Prairie, Larry Craft is in charge of the racing schedule.

6.   Attendance and betting decreased during the thoroughbred season at the Meadowlands Racetrack.