OLDSMAR, Fla. - Joe Judice and Jesus Castanon, the two leading riders at Tampa Bay Downs, have pulled away from their competitors in the battle for the top jockey spot.

Judice, by virtue of 11 winners in the last 10 racing days, has moved out in front with 70 wins, four more than Castanon, who is winning at a 23 percent clip.

Judice is represented by jockey agent Frank "the Greek" Garoufalis, and Don Hill has Castanon's book.

Judice and Castanon are in top form right now, and both say they are committed to staying at Tampa until the end of the meeting.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Poor weather conditions will delay the opening of Aqueduct's main track until March 14, two days later than originally planned. During the delay, racing will be conducted on the inner track.

Management said the postponement will provide Jerry Porcelli, the New York Racing Association's track superintendent, and his crew with additional time to work on the main track, which has been encrusted in ice for most of the winter.

NEW ORLEANS - The Louisiana Derby picked up two more prospective starters, when the connections of Peace Rules and Defrere's Vixen announced their intentions to run in the race.

There now are seven probable runners for the Grade 2, $750,000 Derby on Sunday. Badge of Silver and Kafwain will be the favorites, with Funny Cide, a troubled fifth in the Holy Bull in his last start, shipping in from Florida. Also expected to run are Lone Star Sky, second to Badge of Silver in the Risen Star; and Prince Alphie, a winner of two straight route races.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - When Mark Hennig left trainer D. Wayne Lukas to go out on his own in 1992, his first big horse was Star of Cozzene, who went on to win three Grade 1 turf stakes.

Since then, most of Hennig's success has come with dirt horses. Now, thanks to an infusion of stock from Sheikh Maktoum al Maktoum's Gainsborough Farm, Hennig may be back in the turf business.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Trainer Mark Hennig plans to run his top sprinter, Gygistar, in the $2 million Dubai Golden Shaheen at Nad Al Sheba on March 29, but he's not sure if the 4-year-old gelding needs another prep before then.

If the answer is yes, then Gygistar will start in Saturday's $200,000 Richter Scale Breeders' Cup Handicap at Gulfstream Park. If the answer is no, then Gygistar will have another work or two at Gulfstream before boarding a plane on March 15 for the trip to Dubai.

STICKNEY, Ill. - The meaning of a new Chicago racing season wasn't lost on the 5,126 racing-starved fans who turned out Saturday at Hawthorne Race Course.

The new season also represented an opportunity for Classic Appeal to erase the memory of his frustrating 2002. Ridden by Carlos Silva, Classic Appeal rallied from mid-pack to post a 2 1/4-length victory in the opening-day feature, the $43,200 Hula Chief Stakes, rewarding his backers with a $9.60 win mutuel.

NEW ORLEANS - Four have traveled from Florida and three from California to race Sunday at Fair Grounds. But if recent history is any gauge, the four-horse local contingent will give the shippers everything they can handle in the Grade 2, $500,000 New Orleans Handicap.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Sunday's $100,000 Suwannee River Handicap is an ending for Calista and Amonita, who are both headed to the breeding shed after the race. It could also be a beginning for Party Queen, who makes her stakes debut in the Grade 3 race.

Then again, the nine-furlong Suwannee River could be just another notch in the holster of Stay Forever, who has been on a roll since returning from a bowed tendon that sidelined her for 18 months.

PORTLAND, Ore. - The journey to the Oregon Derby will begin in earnest on Sunday when Portland Meadows stages the $10,000 McFadden Memorial for 3-year-olds at 1 1/16 miles.

Derby hopefuls will have another chance to tune up in the March 22 Preview Stakes, also a $10,000 race at 1 1/16 miles. The Derby itself will be on April 13 at 1 1/8 miles, with a purse of $25,000.

Florida regulators have filed an administrative complaint against Hialeah Park alleging that the track is in violation of state law and should have its racing license revoked.