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.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Just in time for the holiday shopping season, horseplayers can line their pockets with plenty of good cheer Wednesday, with a pick six carryover of $179,241 up for grabs at Aqueduct.

The featured third-level allowance race, over 1 1/16 miles on the turf, is one of the more difficult parts of the pick-six sequence (races 4 through 9). Seven of the 11 fillies and mares entered for the turf are New York-breds taking advantage of the restricted clause written into the conditions. The field will be limited to 10 starters.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. - If, as it appears, Savoy Special has put his gate problems behind him, he could be ready to step up and be the next stakes star in Todd Pletcher's barn.

Savoy Special, who has never been worse than third in eight career starts, will make his stakes debut in Thursday's Grade 3, $100,000 Fall Highweight Handicap at Aqueduct. The Fall Highweight kicks off HolidayFest, Aqueduct's final meaningful weekend of the year, highlighted by Saturday's Grade 1 Cigar Mile.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - All of a sudden, Saint Waki knows how to win. After starting his career with 13 losses, the colt will be one of the favorites Wednesday to win for a third straight time.

With Pat Day scheduled to ride again, Saint Waki is one of nine 3-year-olds and up set to clash in the eighth-race feature, a $48,800 second-level allowance.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Trainer Nick Canani says he has regrouped. He returned to California with owner Michael Gill in tow and started claiming enough horses to build one of the largest stables on this circuit. He also ran a few of those claims back quickly. Too quickly, Canani now believes.

He lost with his first six starters at Hollywood Park, a mere blip for most large barns, but for Gill, it is perceived as a severe drought.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Clouds of Gold, a commendable third in the Grade 3 Maple Leaf Stakes, heads the featured eighth race on the final Wednesday night card of the Woodbine meeting.

A field of eight fillies and mares was drawn for the $80,000 optional claimer, which will be run at 1 1/16 miles.

Clouds of Gold, a $32,000 claim last fall by trainer Ken Parsley, reached full bloom in midsummer, when she won a second-level allowance and finished third behind Royal Dalliance and Tuff Chick in the Belle Mahone Stakes.

NEW ORLEANS - Ben Huffman, the new racing secretary at Fair Grounds, sat staring at his computer screen at 8 a.m. Monday, watching entries for Thursday's card here slowly trickle into the system.

"It's slow, but we just opened," Huffman said.

By the time the entry box closed about three hours later, it was slow no more. Ninety-five horses, including also-eligibles, were entered for opening day at Fair Grounds, a relief to Huffman and to a racetrack hoping to break out of the cloud surrounding the inception of its 132nd season.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Few people were happier to hear the news that Sightseek will not race in the Falls City Handicap than trainer Ken McPeek, whose stable star, Take Charge Lady, has become a strong favorite for the Thanksgiving Day fixture.

"Of course we're glad she's not coming," said McPeek. "It's one less bear we'll have to wrestle."