CHICAGO - It would have been nice if Keeping the Gold would have had a bit more racing luck in the Pucker Up Stakes on Sept. 13 at Arlington. The Pucker Up is a Grade 3, and a graded stakes placing is a gold star on the credentials of any filly that might turn into a broodmare. There were 12 horses in the Pucker Up, and several of them got in Keeping the Gold's way as she rallied in the stretch. She wound up fifth, beaten only a couple lengths, and might have been second with a clean run.

GROVE CITY, Ohio - Ohio's best statebreds will square off Saturday when Beulah Park hosts the 17th annual Best of Ohio Championships.

The championships consist of five stakes in various divisions, with a total of $330,000 in purses up for grabs. The Best of Ohio has rotated annually between Thistledown and Beulah Park since 1999.

Ashwood C C may be the most accomplished horse on the Best of Ohio card. A 5-year-old daughter of Cryptoclearance, Ashwood C C is the two-time defending champion in the $60,000 Distaff Championship.

Saturday night will be a celebration of Texas racing's past and a look at its future during the annual Texas Hall of Fame program at Retama Park near San Antonio.

The memories begin with inductions into the Texas Hall during a late afternoon gala, while the future will be told on the track a few hours later, when some of the state's top 2-year-olds compete in two $125,000 divisions of the Texas Stallion Stakes.

EAST BOSTON, Mass. - In true New England fashion, the region's horsemen took to the streets Thursday along the historic Freedom Trail and onto the steps of the Massachusetts Statehouse to demonstrate in the hopes of getting slots at the tracks and saving their jobs.

The rally was designed to attract sympathy from state legislators who will take up gaming bills over the next six months - bills that could decide if Thoroughbred racing continues in the region after next year.

MIAMI - Chispiski has been nearly unbeatable at 6 1/2 furlongs throughout her career, and she should be tough to catch, even in a formidable field of fillies and mares, when she seeks to defend her title in Saturday's $75,000 U Can Do It Handicap at Calder.

It's common for a 16-year-old to be granted a driver's license, but rare for someone that young to be accredited to train racehorses.

Take it from Carl O'Callaghan, it can be done.

In 1992, O'Callaghan arrived in New York from his home in County Clare on Ireland's west coast. Looking for a job, he went to the racetrack, which seemed a natural starting point, since he spent much time riding ponies and working with his father, a trainer of point-to-point horses at small tracks in western Ireland.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Wake at Noon, Canada's reigning Horse of Year, champion sprinter, and champion older horse, will seek his third straight main-track win at Woodbine in Saturday's $163,800 Durham Cup Handicap.

Wake at Noon made his mark as a sprinter before trainer Abraham Katryan ran him long in the July 20 Izvestia Stakes, which he won comfortably after setting slow fractions. He also led throughout the Aug. 3 Seagram Cup, another 1 1/16-mile stakes, while earning his second straight triple-digit Beyer Figure.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Trainer Mark Casse had grand plans this year for Added Edge, who was coming off a campaign in which he had been perfect in four starts and was voted Canada's champion 2-year-old.

And while not much has gone right for Added Edge in 2003, the colt will be looking to begin compensating for lost time and building some momentum when he runs in the Ontario Derby at Woodbine on Oct. 13.

FORT ERIE, Ontario - Citing increased deterioration of the Fort Erie track surface as the reason, Tom Agosti, the leading trainer here, is looking to start his off-season racing earlier than usual.

Six weeks remain in the Fort Erie meet, but Agosti said he is prepared to abandon his quest for the top trainer title.

"Lately I've had a few get hurt," Agosti said. "It's got to the point where we have to protect them now. It's not right.

VANCOUVER, British Columbia - Overact figures to be even money to win Saturday's $50,000 Fantasy Stakes at Hastings, but the day after nominations closed on Sept. 24, she was about 10-1 to run in the race.

Nominations closed on that Wednesday, and as usual the Hastings Racing Office published the nominations Thursday. David Forster, the trainer of Overact, was surprised to see that Overact wasn't on the list of nominations.