HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Hall of Fame jockey Pat Day will miss the first three weeks of the Gulfstream Park meet after undergoing minor surgery for a calcified rotator cuff in early December.

Day's agent, Doc Danner, said on Friday that Day hopes to return to action on or before Jan. 24, when the rich Sunshine Millions program will be held at Gulfstream and Santa Anita. In the meantime, Day, who lives in Louisville, Ky., has been spending time in Colorado with his mother, who has been ill with heart problems.

NEW ORLEANS - It has been on-again, off-again for , who has mixed brilliance with disappointment in a nine-start career. Except at Fair Grounds. Racing on the main track here, Ifyouprefersilver has gone 3 for 3, including a blowout win last year in the $150,000 Chou Croute Handicap, and on Sunday, she appears perfectly spotted in the $60,000 Truly Bound Handicap.

ALBANY, Calif. - Jim Hilling wasn't at all unhappy about pulling down the 2003 calendar from his stable office wall at Golden Gate Fields and putting up one for 2004.

He started 42 horses last year and didn't make a single trip to the winner's circle.

He can't explain why.

"I don't think I'd do a darn thing different, but I'd like to win a few more races," he said. "I had good help all year. I have the best blacksmith on the grounds and arguably the best vet."

It was late Friday afternoon at Fair Grounds, and at the half-mile pole of the Louisiana Handicap, jockey Eddie Martin had a decision: Be patient and attack Tenpins in the stretch of the race, or go for a small hole between Tenpins and a tiring Fitzroyal.

Turfway Park in Florence, Ky., reported a 5 percent decrease in ontrack handle and a slight decrease in total handle for the holiday meet that ended Wednesday.

Average ontrack handle fell from just over $333,000 to $315,000, despite uncharacteristically warm weather in the final days of 2003. Offtrack handle rose, pushing average all-sources handle to $3.57 million, down slightly from $3.59 million in 2002. The track does not keep attendance figures.

A dispute between Mountaineer Race Track and the local Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association has shut down simulcasting and live racing there.

The track and horsemen have failed to reach agreement on a new three-year contract to replace the one that expired Dec. 31. The main sticking point is the number of racing days in 2004. Attorneys for both groups have agreed to meet Tuesday to resume negotiations.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Before Savedbythelight won last month's Grade 3 Ladies, her connections were thinking about retiring and breeding her. Those plans are on hold for the moment.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Todd Pletcher led trainers in New York stakes wins last year with 21, and figures to win with his first New York stakes starter of 2004, , in Sunday's Ruthless at Aqueduct.

Highgate Park is one of five 3-year-old fillies entered in a weak edition of the Ruthless.

Highgate Park, a daughter of A.P. Indy, lost her first three starts, twice as the favorite. The winners of two of those races, Whoopi Cat and Smokey Glacken, later won stakes.

FLORENCE, Ky. - Because trainers are accustomed to waking in the early hours of the morning, they typically are not the type to stay up to midnight to ring in the New Year.

So trainer Greg Foley provided his own New Year's Eve fireworks Wednesday afternoon, winning three races at Turfway. The wins capped a banner year for Foley and vaulted him into a three-way tie with Bernie Flint and Dale Romans for leading trainer on the final day of Turfway's holiday meet.

The three-win day was not the first for Foley, he said, but the day was no less special.

ALBANY, Calif. - Gold Ruckus ($7.20), the last horse to run under the ownership of John Franks, scored a one-length victory over Truly a Judge in the $81,000 Lafayette Handicap at Golden Gate Fields on Thursday.

"It's a fitting way for Mr. Franks to go out as a winner," winning trainer Jerry Hollendorfer said of the four-time Eclipse Award winner as leading owner who died Thursday. "From now on, his horses will run as the John Franks Estate."