Notes on Saturday's full slate of stakes from coast-to-coast are coming to you a day late courtesy of Blogger's downtime.

Winslow Homer made his stakes debut a winning one with a professional effort in the Grade III Holy Bull Stakes for 3-year-olds at Gulfstream Park.

The gray son of Unbridled’s Song, who broke his maiden at Saratoga last summer, stalked the pace through hotly contested fractions down the backside. He split horses turning for home and edged away from favored Jackson Bend late to win by three-fourths of a length, stopping the clock in 1:35.97 for the mile.

"There is always a little concern when you are up on the inside covered up, especially with a young horse like him, but I was hoping that somewhere along the line things would open up because I felt like I had a lot of horse," said NYRA leading rider Ramon Dominguez, who was aboard the colt. "When the hole barely opened up, he squeezed through horses, and did it very professionally. When he made the lead, he started to come back to me so I had to encourage him a little to keep going, but he’s a professional and he’s just improving tremendously with each race."

Tony Dutrow, who trains Winslow Homer for Rick Porter’s Fox Hill Farms, said the colt would be pointed toward the Fountain of Youth on Feb. 20.

Jackson Bend, making his first start for trainer Nick Zito, had a five-race win streak snapped.

"My horse ran his race," jockey Jeremy Rose said. "I had him positioned right where I wanted him, but when the winner split horses and made his move, he had a little more left. But my horse is a good horse. He ran well."

William’s Kitten, who was near the back of the pack early, rallied to be third, just over three lengths back.

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Meanwhile, the well-traveled Ron the Greek ran down favored Maximus Ruler in deep stretch to take the Grade III Lecomte Stakes at the Fair Grounds.

The colt broke from the far outside in the field of 10 and trailed early as Maximus Ruler set a hot pace from the rail while pressured by longshot Depaul. Ron the Greek still had eight to beat as the field entered the stretch but rallied on the far outside to get the win under James Graham. Maximus Ruler repelled a challenge from Cool Bullet before yielding late to the winner; Letsgetitonmom was third, a half-length behind.

Tom Amoss trains Ron the Greek, who was running on his fourth different track with his fourth different rider in as many starts; he broke his maiden at Hoosier Park in October, won an allowance at Delta Downs in November and was fourth in the Springboard Mile at Remington in December.

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Returning to stakes company at the scene of his biggest wins, Friesan Fire had things all his own way in winning the Louisiana Handicap earlier in the day at the Fair Grounds.

Taking the lead out of the gate, he reeled off moderate fractions and held off General Quarters, winner of last year’s Blue Grass, to win by nearly two under Shaun Bridgemohan.

Friesan Fire won the Lecomte, Risen Star and Louisiana Derby last year to stamp himself as the Kentucky Derby favorite; he finished last, then came out of the Preakness with an injury. He was third in his first start back against allowance company on Dec. 3; trainer Steve Asmussen took the blinkers off for that performance, but they were back on Saturday.

General Quarters, who was also injured in the Preakness and is working his way back from a similar layoff, ran a solid race in defeat, rallying mildly into a soft pace and finishing 7 ½ lengths ahead of third-place Good and Lucky.

Also on the Fair Grounds card, the 3-year-old filly Jody Slew took the Tiffany Lass Stakes, Cash Refund won the Gaudin Memorial, El Caballo returned from a nearly seven-month layoff to take the Colonel E.R. Bradley Stakes and Annihilation won the Leggio Stakes.

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Wall Street Wonder captured the 102nd running of the Paumonok Stakes Saturday at Aqueduct.

Under Channing Hill, the son of City Place outsprinted odds-on favorite Driven By Success through fractions of :22.72 and :45.44 down the backside and opened up under mild urging down the stretch, winning by eight and stopping the clock in 1:09.40 for six furlongs. John Terranova trains.

The Aqueduct card was marred by the fatal breakdown of Honest Wildcat in the first race. Jockey Richie Migliore was removed from the track on a stretcher complaining of blurred vision; X-rays came back negative and he was found to have suffered a mild concussion. He plans to visit a neurologist this week. Migliore will be off his mounts Sunday but won't miss much riding if he gets clearance by the weekend; following today's card Aqueduct is dark until Friday.

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Kinsale King won the Grade II Palos Verdes Handicap at Santa Anita as Breeders’ Cup Sprint winner Dancing in Silks finished third in his 2010 debut.

Kinsale King dueled with Eaton’s Gift early, stuck his head in front turning for

home and held off a stubborn Ventana for the win. It was the third straight win for Kinsale King, who is now headed for the Dubai Golden Shaheen.

Dancing in Silks sat behind the duel, swung wide turning for home, and rallied mildly for the show.

Santa Anita ran an incident-free program in its first day of racing after poor weather in California forced the cancellation of three cards last week.

The Florida path to the Kentucky Derby gets underway this afternoon with the running of the Grade III Holy Bull Stakes, as nine colts go a mile.

Headlining the field is the intriguing prospect Jackson Bend. The colt has won five straight races, at up to a mile and a sixteenth, and swept a set of ungraded events in the Florida Stallion Stakes. In doing so, he defeated highly regarded New York stakeswinner D'Funnybone and the speedy Thank U Philippe, who he meets again today. Following his win in the In Reality Stakes, Jackson Bend was purchased by Robert LaPenta and transferred to Nick Zito; the colt makes his first start for the New York-based trainer today and breaks from the nine under Jeremy Rose, who also rides him for the first time.

Grade I winner Homeboykris drew post 2 under Edgar Prado. The son of Roman Ruler upset a well-regarded field to take the Champagne at Belmont. However, he was a distant fifth in the Remsen last time out behind Buddy's Saint.

Several other starters haven't broken through in a stakes yet but have shown promise. Todd Pletcher sends out Aikenite under regular rider Johnny Velazquez; the colt was third in the Hopeful at Saratoga, second in the Breeders' Futurity and a troubled fifth in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile. He breaks from the eight. Piscitelli drew the four under Kent Desormeaux; the colt set the pace in the Juvenile and finished fourth, beaten less than a length by winner Vale of York. Winslow Homer broke his maiden at Saratoga, then won an allowance by more than a dozen lengths in Philadelphia. He gets NYRA leading rider Ramon Dominguez and breaks from post 6.

Thank U Philippe, who was also second to Buddy's Saint in the Nashua, is expected to set the pace; he gets blinkers on and leaves from the rail under Eddie Castro. Litigation Risk (Alan Garcia, post 3), William's Kitten (Julien Leparoux, post 5) and Wild Lime (Jose Lezcano, post 7) complete the field.

The Florida route to the Derby, which continues with the Fountain of Youth Feb. 20 and the Florida Derby March 20, has been a successful one in recent years, sending Barbaro in 2006 and Big Brown in 2008 to Derby victory.

Meanwhile in Louisiana, a big field of 11 will face off in the Grade III, $100,000 Lecomte at the Fair Grounds. The Louisiana series continues with the Risen Star on Feb. 20 and the Louisiana Derby March 27.

The morning-line favorite for the LeComte is Citrus Kid, who won the Dover Stakes at a mile and a sixteenth and finished third in the Remsen behind Buddy's Saint. He breaks from the five under Miguel Mena.

Maximus Ruler breaks from the rail under Francisco Torres. The colt has shown promise, finishing a troubled third in his debut before scoring in a mile allowance at Churchill Downs.

Turf Melody (Jose Valdivia, post 2) is the only three-time winner in the field, including the Springboard Mile Stakes. Worldly (Robby Albarado, post 3) is a full brother to the multiple stakeswinner Suave; he finished third in the Kentucky Jockey Club behind Super Saver last fall.

Not all the stakes action today is for 3-year-olds, however. Earlier at the Fair Grounds, two horses who were on the Derby trail last year meet in the Louisiana Handicap. Friesan Fire and General Quarters are each making the first start of their 4-year-old campaigns and just the second start off injuries both suffered in the Preakness. Friesan Fire, who won the Risen Star and Louisiana Derby last spring, was third in an allowance optional claiming event in his comeback Dec. 3. General Quarters, who won the Blue Grass last April, was second under similar conditions on Dec. 26.

Elsewhere, Breeders' Cup Sprint winner Dancing in Silks will make his 2010 debut in the Grade II Palos Verdes Handicap at Santa Anita. The California track is resuming racing today after storms that forced the cancellation of three cards this week.