INGLEWOOD, Calif. - The veteran turf sprinter F J's Pace faces challengers from throughout the country when he attempts to win his sixth race of 2003 in Thursday's fifth race at Hollywood Park.

The $44,000 optional claimer at 5 1/2 furlongs on turf has drawn eight runners, including Abderian and Willie the Cat, who are making their first starts in California.

The top contenders with local form are Ecstatic, Mighty Beau, and Puma, who won turf sprints in mid-November, and Gallant, who was seventh in the Morvich Handicap at Santa Anita on Oct. 24.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. - In the third start of her career, and her first on Aqueduct's inner track, Golden Damsel scored a monstrous 15 1/2-length maiden victory last December. Trainer Gary Contessa hopes Golden Damsel's third start off a layoff and a return to the inner oval produces a similar result on Thursday, in the featured second-level allowance race for fillies and mares at a mile and 70 yards.

VINTON, La. - Mr. Jester's win in Friday night's $1 million Delta Jackpot made him one of this year's richest 2-year-olds. Next year, he'll get the chance to prove he's one of the country's best 3-year-olds in a series of races designed to get him to the Kentucky Derby.

Mr. Jester has career earnings of $730,800, third-highest among 2-year-olds this year, behind Breeders' Cup winners Halfbridled, a filly with earnings of $849,400, and Action This Day, who has won $817,200.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Capeside Lady shoots for her third consecutive New York-bred stakes win in Wednesday's $75,000 East View at Aqueduct.

Capeside Lady is the likely favorite among seven 2-year-old fillies in the 1 1/16-mile East View, which originally was scheduled for last Sunday but postponed because of a snowstorm.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. - The postponement by one week of the $100,000 Queens County Handicap could dramatically change the complexion of the Grade 3 race when it is run this Saturday at Aqueduct.

The Queens County was scheduled to be run last Saturday, but was postponed by the snowstorm that hit the East Coast and canceled both weekend cards at Aqueduct. The Queens County will be re-drawn on Thursday and is open to all original nominees.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Michael Gill, the nation's leading owner in victories, has claimed 52 horses in Southern California since late October and has no plans to slow down, according to trainer Nick Canani.

Through Sunday, Gill had spent $1,864,000 acquiring horses at Santa Anita and Hollywood Park. The claiming prices have ranged from $10,000 on seven occasions to $100,000 last Friday for Thunder Bullet, a sprint stakes winner in September.

Overall, he has claimed 20 for $50,000 or more.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Doug O'Neill is third in the trainer standings at Hollywood Park, but after a record-setting Oak Tree at Santa Anita meeting earlier this fall the results might seem like a disappointment.

Through Sunday, O'Neill had won with 8 of 71 starters and has had 25 horses finish second or third. He won 22 races during the seven-week Oak Tree meeting.

Wednesday at Hollywood Park, O'Neill starts Roberto's Show in the fifth race and Grant Marty a Wish in the seventh.

The board of directors of the New York Racing Association is scheduled to meet Wednesday to review a deal with federal prosecutors that would result in an indictment of the association on tax fraud and conspiracy charges but would spare it from a trial, according to an industry official.

Average nightly handle on racing at Hoosier Park rose to $1,433,438 in 2003, an increase of 17.5 percent over $1,220,255 last year thanks to a brisk offtrack handle during the 70-day meet.

Ontrack attendance declined by 5.1 percent from last year, from a nightly average of 966 to 916, and ontrack wagering on Hoosier racing dropped to an average of $55,261, down 11.9 percent from $62,692 in 2002. Offtrack handle on Hoosier races grew 19.1 percent, however, from $1,157,562 last year to $1,378,173 this year.

Beulah Park in Grove City, Ohio, canceled its final three races Sunday after jockeys Orlando O'Farrill and Ramon Luna were injured in a three-horse spill. On Monday morning, O' Farrill was listed in critical condition and Luna in fair condition at Grant Hospital in Columbus. Both had internal and external injuries, a hospital spokesman said.