Deer Run, second in last year's Frank J. De Francis Memorial Dash at Laurel Park, will not run in Saturday's renewal because of inflammation of the suspensory ligament in his left foreleg. Jockey Jorge Chavez, who was scheduled to ride Deer Run, has picked up the mount on Boston Common. . . . Multiple graded stakes winner Zavata, who is pointing for Santa Anita's Grade 1 Malibu Stakes on Dec. 26, will retire for stud duty at Walmac International at the end of the season and stand for a $7,500 fee.

Jose Santos suffered hairline fractures to three ribs and was very sore in the kidney area as the result of a spill at Aqueduct on Saturday. He hopes, however, to be back in the saddle by the end of the week.

Santos was aboard Every Trick when the horse took a misstep and stumbled about 50 yards from the wire in the sixth race. Santos was hurled hard to the ground, and he said later that a horse kicked him in the kidney area.

Jamie Spencer has been named by trainer Aidan O'Brien as Ballydoyle's first-string rider, replacing Michael Kinane, who announced his departure Friday. Kinane, meanwhile, has been named to ride first-string next year for trainer John Oxx, taking over from Johnny Murtagh. . . . Greta Kuntzweiler won the final two races of the five-race Female Jockey Challenge series to capture the event at Hoosier Park on Saturday. Kuntzweiler was aboard Whysoshy ($5) in the seventh race and Retro Red ($5.80) in the eighth. . . .

INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Tyler Baze will be the first to admit he is having way too much fun climbing up the jockey ranks in Southern California.

"It's a thrill," Baze said. "It's fun riding winners. It's not fun riding longshots. Riding winners keeps you happy."

Baze, the 2000 Eclipse Award winner as the nation's top apprentice jockey, has had a breakthrough year. He has gone from being a journeyman who rides everyday horses and gets an occasional stakes mount to riding for the first time on the Dubai World Cup program and in the Kentucky Derby and a Breeders' Cup race.

Finger Lakes canceled its live Friday card because of unsafe track conditions caused by persistent cold and wet weather in western New York. The track planned to resume racing Saturday afternoon. . . . Grade 2 winner Prime Time, who stood this year's breeding season at Richard Simon's Sez Who Thoroughbreds in Florida, has been moved to Sez Who's farm in New York. His fee will remain $5,000 live foal. . . . Rodney Prescott, second in the rider standings at Hoosier Park, collected five victories from his 10 mounts on Thursday's card.

No ordinary Joe embraced as one for the ages

When I read Jay Hovdey's Nov. 2 column, "Hey, Joe - say it ain't so," about the impending retirement of Joe Hirsch, it sent me back in time.

I remember during the 1960's when my dad would get the Morning Telegraph. I always wanted to read the clear insights put forth by Joe Hirsch. Even though I wasn't more than 10, Hirsch's articles were a highlight for me.

The Nassau County, N.Y., district attorney is prepared to drop criminal charges against three individuals who were allegedly involved in a milkshaking incident at Belmont Park in June.

Total handle through account-wagering hubs in Oregon in the third quarter of 2003 was $220.4 million, a slight increase over the second quarter and a 61 percent increase over the third quarter last year, according to figures collected by the Oregon Racing Commission.

Youbet.com led the way with $70.1 million in handle. Television Games Network was next at $64.2 million. Youbet has an agreement that allows it to take wagers on tracks with exclusive agreements with TVG. Almost all of the revenue from those wagers goes to TVG.

The Emirates Racing Association season opened at Nad Al Sheba on Thursday without its four-time champion trainer, Kiaran McLaughlin, who after 10 winters in Dubai has opted to run a New York-based public stable on a permanent basis. His place has been taken by his longtime UAE assistant, Doug Watson, who had one winner from six starters Thursday when Hobb Alwahtan took a 1 1/4-mile handicap by 6 3/4 lengths. . . .

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The election of Ernie Fletcher as governor of Kentucky almost surely will spur change within the state's racing industry, although racetrack and horsemen's executives said Wednesday that it is too early to predict how the industry will fare under the new administration.

At least two major racing issues face Fletcher, who on Tuesday was elected Kentucky's first Republican governor in 32 years when he defeated Democratic candidate Ben Chandler by 10 percentage points.