HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - A full gate is the rule in turf stakes during the Gulfstream Park winter meeting, which makes it a bit surprising that just nine horses were entered in Saturday's $100,000 Canadian Turf Handicap. Only seven will start if the race goes as scheduled on the grass.

Rain in the forecast both Friday and Saturday might change the complexion of the Grade 3 Canadian Turf, which features the 2004 debut of Hard Buck and the return of Millennium Dragon, who has already won the one-mile Appleton Handicap this meet.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Trainer Tony Dutrow had this to say about Fit Performer's 6 1/4-length win in the Interborough Handicap on Jan. 1: "I thought my little brother could have taken it easier on me."

Dutrow was referring to Richard Dutrow Jr., Fit Performer's trainer. Tony Dutrow saddled the favorite in the Interborough, Elegant Designer, who finished third.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. - After winning his first two starts by a combined margin of 11 lengths, Jaglander will run next in the $75,000 Whirlaway Stakes at Aqueduct on Feb. 7.

Jaglander, trained by Richard Dutrow Jr., won two New York-bred races at six furlongs. He will meet open company in the Whirlaway, a 1 1/16-mile race for 3-year-olds.

Dutrow, who trains Jaglander for Leslie L. Alexander, doesn't want to speculate on whether the son of Mazel Trick will be anything more than a sprinter.

PORTLAND, Ore. - Houston Shuffle returns to Portland Meadows on Saturday in a field of six in the $10,000 Flying Lark Stakes at six furlongs.

PORTLAND, Ore. - Just a week ago Freedom Fair was an unstarted 3-year-old, but on Saturday he will be one of the favorites in the $10,000 Flying Lark Stakes at six furlongs at Portland Meadows.

VANCOUVER, British Columbia - Hastings 2004 stakes schedule was released Thursday morning and will consist of 45 stakes worth a total of $2.6 million. There are no major changes in the schedule from last year.

The highlights of the meet remain the $250,000 British Columbia Derby, Sept. 26, and B.C. Cup Day, Aug. 2. The B.C. Cup has seven stakes scheduled with purses totaling over $365,000.

ALBANY, Calif. - Trainer Chuck Jenda will never confuse A B Noodle with Brown Bess, his champion female turf horse of 1989.

But he would be happy to pose with A B Noodle in the Golden Gate Fields' winner's circle after Saturday's Grade 3, $100,000 Brown Bess Handicap.

A B Noodle, coming off an impressive victory in a stakes-quality allowance race on Jan. 3, figures to be one of the favorites in the 1 1/16-mile turf race, which will have a field of 11 fillies and mares and will be part of the initial Magna 5, a national pick five.

OLDSMAR, Fla. - It's a double feature on Saturday at Tampa Bay Downs.

In the first of two stakes, Sandpiper Stakes winner Wild Speed will attempt to maintain her perfect record at Tampa Bay Downs in the $60,000 Gasparilla Stakes. In the $60,000 Manatee Stakes, Minaret winner Sea Span will go after her third straight local win while facing Canadian stakes runner Mille Feville.

PHOENIX - For a couple years now, Knoll Lake has dared any female sprinter to come up and knock her off her perch. And for the most part she's managed to maintain her position at the top of the pecking order.

But things have been tough on her the past few months, and they don't get any easier when she gives weight in Saturday's $40,000 Princess of Palms Handicap at Turf Paradise. The six-furlong race has a field of six.

Chicks Charger Easy, who concluded his 2003 season with a win in the Sam Houston Stakes at Los Alamitos on Nov. 1, should be favored in his 2004 debut, when he runs in the Grade 3, $26,650 Moonshiner Handicap on Saturday night at Los Alamitos.

Chicks Charger Easy will carry high weight of 124 pounds in the Moonshiner, which is run over 870 yards.

John Cooper, who trained three-time distance champion Sign of Lanty, prepared Chicks Charger Easy for his return to racing with a crisp 33.80-second work over 660 yards Jan. 17.