Coach Mike cutting back

Coach Mike will cut back to the distance of her biggest career win Friday night in the featured eighth race at Delta Downs. The five-furlong optional claimer drew a field of seven horses, including Susie Snooks, who in her last start ran fourth in the $100,000 Louisiana Champions Day Ladies Sprint at Fair Grounds.

Coach Mike also returns to the overnight ranks after facing stakes foes. She was fourth in the $73,000 Magnolia at a mile on Nov. 17, but before that cruised to a 7 1/2-length win in a five-furlong optional claimer at Delta. Cody Meche has the mount for trainer Tony Richey.

* The annual winter mixed auction produced by Stemmans Inc. will be held Sunday at Traders Rest Farm in Scott, La. There also will be a stallion show, with Traders Rest Farm parading its roster that includes Whiff of Indy, a half-brother to Prairie Bayou, and stakes winners Be Like Mike and Silver on Silver. The auction will begin at 11 a.m. Central. The catalog includes broodmares, yearlings, and horses of racing age.

* Saturday night, Delta will host a qualifying tournament for the 2008 Horseplayer World Series. The finale will be held at the Orleans Hotel in Las Vegas on Jan. 24-26. The top two finishers in the Delta qualifier will win a package that includes the $1,500 entry fee into the finale, round-trip airfare, and hotel accommodations. The entry fee for the Delta tournament is $100.