Great Canadian Gaming Corporation has reached an agreement with the British Columbia Lottery Corporation to begin the installation of slot machines at Hastings, Great Canadian announced Tuesday.

The first phase of the development will see approximately 150 slots installed using existing floor space. It's possible that the slots floor will be open before the Hastings meet concludes on Nov. 4.

STICKNEY, Ill. - Chris Block had the tub of peppermints out late Wednesday morning in his Hawthorne barn. Reno Rumble, the old Illinois-bred turf horse and current stable pony, was being walked around the shed row, and stopped each trip past the barn office for a minty sweet. And with plastic rustle of an opening treat, another gray head - that of Fort Prado - poked out of his stall.

"He's the most spoiled of all," Block said.

Jonesboro, who surpassed the $500,000 mark in earnings last weekend with his runner-up finish in the Grade 2 Hawthorne Gold Cup, could make his turf debut later this month at his base of Remington Park.

Trainer Randy Morse said Wednesday that Jonesboro is under consideration for the $100,000 Remington Green Stakes. The 1 1/16-mile turf race will be run on the Oklahoma Derby undercard Oct. 21.

In the twilight of his long racing career, M B Sea has apparently become finicky about where he races.

Based in Kentucky with trainer Dale Romans, the 8-year-old M B Sea reaffirmed his fondness for Mountaineer Race Track when he scored an easy 5 3/4-length victory in Tuesday night's $75,000 Fall Stakes.

Over the past two seasons, M B Sea now has two wins and a second in three starts at Mountaineer - all in stakes - but is 0 for 11 everywhere else.

Two starts ago, he won the $125,000 West Virginia Governors, a race he also captured in 2005 and placed second in 2003.

Six full fields have been drawn for Saturday's Michigan Sire Stakes, the biggest day on the Michigan racing calendar.

The series of races, for the progeny of Michigan stallions, will probably be the last run at Great Lakes Downs. It could possibly be the last run in Michigan. With track owner Magna Entertainment having said it will not run a meet at Great Lakes next year, the future of this western Michigan track and Thoroughbred racing in the state is in doubt.

When Beulah Park begins its 52-day fall meet Friday, there will be two glaring differences from the spring meet. Approximately 100 gaming machines are in operation throughout the clubhouse and grandstand, and claiming horses will run for as low as a $2,500 tag for the first time since the early 1980s. The purse for $2,500 races will be $3,400.

Frankie Shoots is in a prime position to gain his first major stakes win in the Grade 2, $191,000 Pacific Coast Quarter Horse Racing Association Breeders Derby on Friday night at Los Alamitos.

Trainer Paul Jones scratched Frankie Shoots from the Grade 1 Los Alamitos Winter Derby in February because of an injury and then brought the colt back to set the fastest-qualifying time to the Breeders Derby. He raced the 400 yards in 19.540 seconds to win by three-quarters of a length.

MIAMI - There may be no leaves turning colors to indicate fall has officially arrived in south Florida but racing fans will surely be able to tell the season is in full bloom and winter just around the corner after perusing the nominations for the $200,000 Calder Derby and $200,000 Calder Oaks.

Among the nominees for the two turf fixtures are horses trained by Todd Pletcher, Bill Mott, Graham Motion, Michael Matz, Kiaran McLaughlin, Christophe Clement, Jimmy Toner, Dale Romans, and John Terranova. All are regulars on the south Florida circuit each winter.

LEXINGTON, Ky. - Allen Jerkens couldn't remember the last time he sent a horse from New York to race at Keeneland. His best guess was Sensitive Prince, who won a minor Kentucky Derby prep race in 1978 before setting the pace for Affirmed and Alydar in the Derby, but more recently than that, Jerkens saddled Silent Account, winner of the 1985 Alcibiades.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Trainer Roger Attfield has many fond memories of the top turf racemare Carotene, whom he trained through a four-year career beginning in 1985 that yielded six Sovereign Awards.

Carotene was inducted into the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame in 2003, one year after a 1 1/8-mile turf race for 3-year-old fillies here was named in her honor.

On Saturday, Attfield will be looking to win the Carotene Stakes for the first time when he sends out Sans Souci Island and Dancer's Fan to face just three other opponents.