If Britt's Jules repeats the 96 Beyer Figure he earned winning an allowance in his most recent start, then Saturday night's $40,000 Delta Beau at Delta Downs in Vinton, La., will be a race for second. If he does not, the five-furlong stakes for 2-year-olds will be flung wide open, with at least four others in the seven-horse field capable of winning.

Brimmerton was 2-5 to win the Grade 1 Retama Park Futurity for Quarter Horses back in June, but he was left at the starting gate and ended up sixth in one of the biggest upsets of the meet. Fast forward five months, and Brimmerton will get a second chance to win his first stakes in Saturday night's $1,088,856 Texas Classic Futurity at Lone Star Park.

The 400-yard race for 2-year-old Quarter Horses is the richest stakes in the history of Texas.

VANCOUVER, British Columbia - Exceptional performances by Dancewithavixen and Roscoe Pito will make it hard for voters to choose a horse of the year in British Columbia this season.

Under normal circumstances, Roscoe Pito would have a lock on the title. Usually, a horse who wins both the British Columbia Derby and then beats older horses in the Premier's is given the award. But it's hard to get past the remarkable record that Dancewithavixen compiled in 2003.

PORTLAND, Ore. - With Houston Shuffle away, will it be Tom Won's turn to play in Saturday's six furlong Columbia River Stakes for 2-year-olds?

Houston Shuffle, the undisputed local divisional leader with three wins in as many starts, is sitting out the Columbia River in order to come into the Dec. 13 Oregon Futurity as a fresh horse.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Improving the average field size, which has been down about 1 percent this year, will be one of the major goals of the Woodbine Entertainment Group in 2004.

But it certainly hasn't been a problem during the last few days of this meeting, with the entry box being filled by horsemen seeking a last kick at the can.

Racing secretary Steve Lym said more than 200 horses had been entered for Friday, including those in races which were not carded. A total of 138 horses were on the overnight for the 11-race program.

Philadelphia Park-based trainer John Servis is resisting the temptation to get overly excited or look too far ahead with his highly promising 2-year-old Smarty Jones.

Last Saturday, in just his second career start, Smarty Jones won the seven-furlong Pennsylvania Nursery by 15 lengths, earning a Beyer Speed Figure of 103. The filly Forest Music (105) and Judiths Wild Rush (105) are the only 2-year-olds to run faster this year.

Shiny Sheet and Undercover, the two best horses in Saturday's $100,000 Geisha Handicap at Laurel Park, will have to overcome poor post positions. They will break from posts 8 and 9 in a field of nine Maryland-bred fillies and mares.

The 5-year-old Shiny Sheet, who comes into the Geisha off a win and a close third against open stakes company, drops back in with statebreds for the first time since finishing fifth against males in the 1 3/16-mile Maryland Million Classic in October. Her last three Beyer Speed Figures (90-96-97) are the best recent dirt figures in this field.

SUNLAND PARK, N.M. - Sunland Park led the nation in starters per field last year at 9.9, and Saturday's $50,000-added KLAQ Handicap hits that number just about on the button, with a field of 10. The race, for 3-year-olds and upward at 5 1/2 furlongs, drew horses from tracks around the country, making for an excellent player's race.

PHOENIX - With the region's top juvenile filly, Bugsy Marrone, chasing bigger game elsewhere, it's a chance for 11 other 2-year-old fillies to try and grab the spotlight in Saturday's fillies division of the $25,000 Arizona Breeders Futurity at Turf Paradise.

In the $25,000 colt-and-gelding division, Samurai Nanao will likely be favored in a field of 12. The two events, which go as races 6 and 7, are both carded at six furlongs.

Turn to Lass, the runner-up in the Pocahontas Stakes at Churchill Downs earlier this month, could be a slight favorite in Saturday's $40,000 Miss Mommy Stakes at Hawthorne. The six-furlong Miss Mommy attracted a field of six.