NEW ORLEANS - Bonapaw was asleep in the dark corner of his stall Monday morning at Fair Grounds. The old man needs his rest.

Bonapaw is 7 and turns 8 in five weeks, but on opening day at Fair Grounds he will be asked to win the Thanksgiving Handicap for the third time in his illustrious career, something no horse has ever done. The Bonapaw of old was the horse to beat in Fair Grounds sprint stakes, but this time, Bonapaw must prove he still can run with the likes of Posse, the 3-year-old colt who will be heavily favored Thursday.

NEW ORLEANS - Meet-opening press conferences are supposed to showcase fluff. Welcome. We hope to have a great meet. See you out at the track.

But at Fair Grounds late Tuesday morning, at a press luncheon, the track's president and general manager, Bryan Krantz, found it impossible to sidestep the issues dogging his racetrack. At Fair Grounds right now, one does not go long without hearing the words "slots," "lawsuit," and "settlement," and they came up again Tuesday.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. - It is usually Bobby Frankel who is the hunted, with everyone taking shots at him as he sends out the top choices in major stakes races. But on Thursday at Hollywood Park, Frankel will do the hunting with longshot Watchem Smokey.

Frankel will try to knock off California's best sprinter, Avanzado, who figures to be an overwhelming favorite in the $100,000 Vernon O. Underwood Stakes.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Think you can't have too much of a good thing? Think again.

Southern California racing lately has been plagued by short fields, but there are so many 3-year-olds being considered for Sunday's Grade 1, $600,000 Hollywood Derby that several horses might be excluded from the field.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Heading into the 2002 season, Affirmed Feeling was seen as a potential Queen's Plate horse.

Owned and bred by Ivan Dalos and trained by David Bell, Affirmed Feeling had closed out his juvenile campaign with a rallying third-place finish in the 1 1/8-mile Coronation Futurity, looking like the sort who would thrive at the Plate's 1 1/4-mile distance.

Affirmed Feeling did end up racing on Queen's Plate Day, but his appearance came about 40 minutes after the feature, in a 1 1/8-mile maiden race where he finished seventh.

ALBANY, Calif. - Miss Bridget Jones, who will be making her first start since finishing fourth in the Grade 2 Hollywood Breeders' Cup Oaks in June, will vie for favoritism with Devil Dancing in Golden Gate Fields' Thanksgiving feature, a six-furlong, $80,000 optional claimer for fillies and mares.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - One for Rose, a nominee to Friday's Grade 2 Top Flight Handicap at Aqueduct, will run instead in Thursday's seventh race at Woodbine, an $86,400 allowance for fillies and mares.

The 1 1/16-mile race is limited to nonwinners of $53,400 twice other than maiden, claiming, or restricted allowance, at a mile or longer, since Sept. 1. One for Rose fits the conditions beautifully - and barely - because she earned $51,840 in her Oct. 11 allowance triumph, a prep for the 1 1/4-mile Maple Leaf Stakes, a race she won by 6 1/4 lengths with a 110 Beyer Speed Figure.

MIAMI - Mike Gill burst upon the local racing scene amidst a claiming frenzy during the tail end of the 2002 Tropical meet at Calder. But barring a change in plans, his tumultuous one-year stay in south Florida ended earlier this week when the last of his stable shipped out of town.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Hall of Fame trainer Bobby Frankel abruptly canceled plans to run two of his stable stars, Sightseek and Medaglia d'Oro, in rich handicaps at Churchill Downs this week, saying he believed both horses were assigned excessive weight.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. - With six graded stakes over three days, this weekend's Autumn Turf Festival at Hollywood Park is shaping up as the highlight of the fall season. The races by and large have big fields with top-class horses, most notably Sunday's Grade 1, $500,000 Matriarch Stakes, which is finding its new one-mile distance to be extremely popular.