Etc. . . .

Numerous racetracks canceled racing Friday because of inclement weather that included ice and driving rains. Aqueduct, Laurel Park, Philadelphia Park, and Penn National all canceled, as did Beulah Park. . . . Castle Gandolfo, a Group 3 winner and Group 1-placed horse, has retired from racing and will stand in 2004 at Walmac International in Lexington, Ky., for a $6,000 fee. Castle Gandolfo, a 5-year-old son of Gone West and Golden Oriole, retires with a lifetime record of 14-3-2-3 and $215,968 in earnings. . . . Newmarket Racecourse has received planning permission to install a dirt track which would run alongside its hallowed Rowley Mile Course. If all goes according to plan, construction of a straight 10-furlong Polytrack course would begin in June, with dirt racing commencing in January 2005. . . . The Jockey Club's 2004 Fact Book, a statistical and informational guide to the North American Thoroughbred industry, is now available online at www.jockeyclub.com.