All-sources wagering on races at The Meadowlands was up 18.7 percent at the track's recently concluded 28-day meet, according to figures released by the track Tuesday.

The handle gains made up for a precipitous drop in 2002 compared with 2001. Last year, when the Meadowlands ran a 63-day meet, handle dropped 19.6 percent on the track's races.

All-sources average daily handle was $2.1 million during this year's meet, compared with $1.8 million last year. Ontrack handle on the Meadowlands races was $407,389 daily, nearly identical to last year.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Kiaran McLaughlin has made a smooth transition from private to public trainer.

For 10 years, McLaughlin trained privately for the Maktoum family, splitting his year between Dubai and New York. In September, McLaughlin announced he was opening up a public stable. He has built the stable up to about 50 horses, and has continued to win at a high percentage.

McLaughlin won two races on Tuesday's Aqueduct card and is now 3 for 10 at this meet after going 7 for 35 at Belmont.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - In a perfect world, 26-year-old apprentice jockey Corey Fraser would have enjoyed a lengthier introduction to the sport before launching himself headlong into the world of Thoroughbred racing.

But Fraser, who came to the racetrack only three years ago, has taken the fast track to the jockeys' room, and he's determined to make up for lost time. Last weekend, he recorded the first two victories of his career.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Money may be the world's most powerful motivator, but in racing, favorable race conditions apparently rank a close second.

Excessivepleasure will be a heavy favorite to win Sunday's Grade 3, $150,000 Oklahoma Derby, one of 16 stakes to be run this weekend in Oklahoma, Texas, and Louisiana.

Sam Houston Race Park in Houston will card nine stakes worth $650,000 on Saturday night during its annual Texas Champions Day program, while four statebred stakes worth $275,000 will be decided on Friday and Saturday night at Delta Downs in Vinton, La.

Remington Park will card two other stakes in addition to the Oklahoma Derby, which is the richest race of the meet.

As many as 13 horses are expected to be entered Wednesday when post positions are drawn for Saturday's Grade 1, $300,000 Frank J. De Francis Memorial Dash at Laurel Park.

Shake You Down, a three-time graded-stakes winner this year and the third-place finisher in the Breeders' Cup Sprint, is expected to be a strong favorite in the six-furlong Dash. Shake You Down has won 6 of 11 starts this year, including the Bold Ruler, True North, and Smile Sprint handicaps. He was claimed earlier this year by trainer Scott Lake for $65,000.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Breeders' Cup Day marked a turning point in the recent fortunes of Dale Romans and Steve Asmussen, the two favorites to win the training title coming into the 2003 Churchill Downs fall meet.

Romans, who had won one race at the Keeneland meet, sent out longshot M B Sea to win the Fayette Stakes on Oct. 25, closing day at Keeneland, which overlapped with the Breeders' Cup program at Santa Anita. Meanwhile, none of the three horses that Asmussen ran in the Breeders' Cup, including favored Cuvee in the Juvenile, finished in the money.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Bornwithit is scheduled to be shipped Wednesday to trainer Bob Baffert in California after having been sold by Glenn Montgomery for an undisclosed amount. Montgomery had claimed Bornwithit after he won a $30,000 maiden claiming race by 24 1/2 lengths an earned an 85 Beyer Figure Oct. 11 at Keeneland.

CHICAGO - If Summer Mis is named Illinois horse of the year it will be on the merits of what she already has accomplished this season, since Summer Mis is headed to South Carolina for the winter and won't race until next year, according to her trainer, Tony Mitchell.

Louisiana Downs closed out its first meet under the ownership of Harrah's Entertainment on Sunday with a double-digit increase in handle. During the 80-day meet, the track handled $2,499,708 a day on its races, up 11.8 percent over the corresponding meet in 2002.