CHICAGO - Last autumn Capsized had sore feet and Mystery Giver wouldn't eat. A year later Capsized has comfy shoes and Mystery Giver is diving into his food. Both are good-feeling horses now, but what Capsized has and Mystery Giver does not is speed, a potentially deciding edge when the pair squares off in the Sea O' Erin Breeders' Cup Mile.

A solid field of nine was entered in the Sea O' Erin, a $150,000-added turf race that tops the Washington Park undercard. Also of interest Sunday is a ninth race allowance that will match Unshaded, Chindi, and Meadowminer at seven furlongs.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - If fate had not intervened, Roxelana never would have been on the racetrack Wednesday night at Turfway Park.

But life took a peculiar twist for Roxelana, and now the 5-year-old mare is back from retirement, ready to resume the standout career that two years ago made her one of the better fillies of her generation.

LOUISVILLE, Ky - The board of directors of Churchill Downs Inc. has approved phase two of the flagship track's massive renovation, albeit on a slightly smaller scale than originally planned.

At a late Thursday meeting, the board approved $95 million of a project expected to total about $121 million. The original phase two was altered somewhat by eliminating a proposed simulcast facility and lights for night racing.

POMONA, Calif. - Doug O'Neill is closing in on the first meet title of his training career, holding a 9-6 lead over A.C. Avila going into Friday. If he leads the Fairplex meet, O'Neill will do it without the highweight for Sunday's $50,000 Governor's Cup at 6 1/2 furlongs. Despite a facile win in the six-furlong Aprisa Handicap Sept. 18, F J's Pace won't run back in the Governor's Cup.

"He's doing super, but it's a little quick back and I don't want to get greedy," O'Neill said, adding that F J's Pace would run at the Oak Tree meet at Santa Anita.

SAN MATEO, Calif. - There is a learning curve for both 2-year-olds and their trainers. The horses must learn how to race, and horsemen need to be able to gauge their horses' ability and determine at what level to race them.

For trainers Brian Koriner and Greg Gilchrist, Sunday's $60,000-added Malcolm Anderson Stakes at Bay Meadows will provide some answers.

Koriner is entering Hawaiian Lyon and Tactical Strike in the six-furlong race for 2-year-olds. Gilchrist is entering Gray Jag in the race that attracted five entrants.

WINNIPEG, Manitoba - Sir Pucker goes for back-to-back stakes wins as he faces seven other older horses in Sunday's $60,000 Gold Breeders' Cup Stakes.

The $30,000 Osiris Stakes, for 2-year-olds at one mile, is also featured on the closing-day card.

One of two entrants in the 1 1/8-mile Gold Breeders' Cup trained by Harry Kube, Sir Pucker has won 4 of his 6 races here this year. In his last start, the R.J. Speers Stakes, Sir Pucker stalked a five-horse pace battle before making his move on the final turn and drawing off by 5 3/4 lengths.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Even though Wake at Noon held his own in some tough company in the United States, the Sovereign Award for champion sprinter eluded him in 2001.

Wake at Noon will try to wrap up that award this year, as the 126-pound highweight, in Sunday's Grade 3, $160,800 Highlander Handicap, a supporting feature on Canadian International Day at Woodbine.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario--How old is Yavana's Pace, the senior member of the field for Sunday's $1.5 million Canadian International?

For the literal-minded, the answer is 10. The more fanciful, however, may consider the following:

* Yavana's Pace is older than the surface over which he will be running Sunday, as the E.P. Taylor turf course opened in the summer of 1994.

* He was born during the same year as Smart Strike, who is the sire of another of this year's International entrants, the 3-year-old Portcullis.

SEATTLE, Wash. - With the hearing for a license to operate Spokane's Playfair Race Course less than a month away, negotiations between prospective operator Eric Nelson and eastern Washington horsemen remain stalemated.

Jay Healy, president of Organization for the Preservation of Horse Racing in the Northwest, reported at a meeting of the Washington Horse Racing Commission here on Wednesday that his group has made no progress in securing a purse agreement with Nelson.

VANCOUVER, British Columbia - Kim Hart is back and that's good news for Hastings Park racing fans. As well as spending serious money for locally bred yearlings, in the past Hart has claimed high priced horses in California and brought them up to Hastings to compete in the major stakes races. His most notable purchase was Wandering, who Hart claimed for $62,500 at Hollywood Park and then shipped him up to win the 1999 British Columbia Derby.