ELMONT, N.Y. - Saturday's Grade 1, $500,000 Champagne Stakes will be the third race in five weeks for Pretty Wild. That explains why trainer Stanley Hough says Pretty Wild will have to do something extraordinary to convince him and owner Einar Robsham to go on to the Breeders' Cup Juvenile later this month at Arlington Park.

ARCADIA, Calif. - A downbeat consensus regarding the quality of the Grade 2 Norfolk Stakes is one reason two longshot contenders may join the field of 2-year-olds racing 1 1/16 miles on Saturday. Although Manhattan Express and Oberwald have won stakes, they would be Norfolk outsiders against Kafwain, Bull Market, and Listen Indy.

Manhattan Express won the $50,000 Gateway to Glory Stakes by more than seven lengths Sept. 26 at Fairplex Park, and trainer A.C. Avila said the colt came out of the race so well he may wheel him right back.

LEXINGTON, Ky. - Five times the Breeders' Cup World Thoroughbred Championships has been run in what is considered the Midwest, and in every one of those years the event was held at Churchill Downs.

During those years (1988, 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000), prep races at Keeneland Race Course frequently took on a significance of a slightly higher degree. Horsemen seeking a prep before Churchill often settled on Keeneland, which is only 75 miles from Louisville and served a useful purpose in terms of logistics and acclimation.

MIAMI - Trainer Marty Wolfson had a big weekend, winning three races, including Saturday's Noble Royalty Handicap with his budding turf star Stay Forever.

Stay Forever won for the fourth time in five career starts, exploding through the stretch to win the Noble Royalty in her turf debut. A 5-year-old daughter of Stack and owned by her breeder, the Santa Cruz Ranch Inc., Stay Forever was making her third start following a lengthy layoff.

It looks like Kenny Smith might have another good gray on his hands.

Known for training the gray millionaire Silver Goblin, Smith sent out a promising 2-year-old filly last Sunday in Mekko Hokte, who set a stakes record in the 6 1/2 furlong Delta Miss, going 1:17.99 while defeating stakes winner Hadif's Allstar.

"She really looks like a racehorse. She has it written all over her," said Smith, who trains the daughter of Holy Bull for William Lerblance Jr. "She's a beautiful filly, and she's got a lot of try."

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - While last Sunday's Canadian International and E.P. Taylor Stakes will have little or no relevance in terms of the Sovereign Awards this year, one certain Canadian champion was on display earlier on the program.

Wake at Noon, a 5-year-old horse who finished third in the outstanding sprinter balloting last fall after being the runner-up the previous season, won his fourth stakes of 2002 in the Highlander Handicap and will be impossible to overlook this time around.

SAN MATEO, Calif. - Trainer Junior Coffey has come south again for the winter.

Based in Washington, where he was an outstanding running back for the University of Washington before playing for Green Bay, Atlanta, and the New York Giants in the NFL, Coffey began coming to northern California more than 20 years ago to run when first Longacres and now Emerald Downs ended their meeting.

He sends out an improving 2-year-old filly, Best Practices, in Thursday's co-feature at Bay Meadows, a 5 1/2-furlong race for $25,000 claimers.

WINNIPEG, Manitoba - A daily ontrack average of $84,631 was handled at the 2002 Assiniboia Downs meeting, which concluded Sunday. That is a 4.8 percent increase over the corresponding 2001 figure of $80,764, Offtrack handle on live racing decreased from $54,378 per day in 2001 to $51,026, but the average total handle increased slightly from $135,142 in 2001 to $135,657.

Ontrack attendance was down slightly in 2002, from an average of 1,951 patrons per day in 2001 to 1,904 this year.

ARCADIA, Calif. - When Azeri last started at Santa Anita in March, she won her first stakes in the Grade 1 Santa Margarita Handicap.

Six months later, Azeri returns to Santa Anita for Wednesday's $200,000 Lady's Secret Breeders' Cup Handicap as the holder of a five-stakes winning streak that has given her the status of top older female in the United States.

POMONA, Calif. - Weekend horseplayers wagered $17 million on Fairplex Park races Saturday and Sunday, providing a fitting conclusion to the once-uncertain future of the Los Angeles County Fair race meet.

The 17-day fair meet, which at one point last year appeared headed for a change in venue to either Santa Anita or Hollywood Park, instead will remain at Fairplex. How long? That is up to the California racing industry, according to Jim Henwood, president and chief executive officer of the L.A. County Fair.