ELMONT, N.Y. - The electricity and large crowds were missing, but many things were just as they were during the Saratoga meet as Belmont Park kicked off its 33-day fall season Friday before a gathering of 4,386.

The weather, as it was in Saratoga Springs, was superb and Cornelio Velasquez, as he was at Saratoga, remained red-hot, winning four races on the nine-race card. One race he didn't win was the $108,800 General Douglas MacArthur Handicap, which was taken by Naughty New Yorker under Javier Castellano.

MIAMI - The name Maurece Williams might have been a mystery to racing fans when he saddled Spangler's Storm to win the finale at Calder on Aug. 30. But the name Moe Williams is certainly no mystery to football fans who followed the former University of Kentucky running back through his 10-year career in the National Football League.

Well, Maurece Williams and Moe Williams are one in the same, the former Minnesota Vikings player having turned his attention to Thoroughbred racing on a full-time basis following his retirement from pro football in 2006.

AUBURN, Wash. - Wednesday's announcement that Magna Entertainment Corp. will put Portland Meadows, along with Thistledown in Ohio, up for sale has caused a good deal of consternation among Northwest fans and horsemen. The situation is not quite as dire as may be imagined, however.

"People should understand that we are proceeding with our plans to run a race meeting at Portland Meadows in 2007-08," said Dwayne Yuzik, general manager at Portland Meadows, "and that we are proceeding with our legal options regarding instant-racing machines.'

VANCOUVER, British Columbia - Apprentice Jockey Fernando Perez is starting to build some momentum at Hastings, and with all the important races coming up in the next few weeks, his timing couldn't be better.

Perez, 21, didn't look like a young apprentice when he brought Winter Warning from off the pace to win the S.W. Randall Plate last Monday. It was the first stakes win at Hastings for Perez. Plus, it won't hurt that he's been picking up a lot of mounts from Troy Taylor, the leading trainer at the meet.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - If the prospective field holds together, this year's running of the Woodbine Mile will be one of the most intriguing ever.

As of Friday, Woodbine stakes manager Julie Bell was expecting no fewer than seven contestants from the United States for the Grade 1, $1 million Woodbine Mile, a turf race for 3-year-olds and upward on Sept. 16.

Becrux, winner of last year's Woodbine Mile for trainer Neil Drysdale, is the only invader currently on the grounds, but the others should begin arriving in midweek.

FORT ERIE, Ontario - "Retired" jockey Tyrone Harding was beaming his usual smile one day recently as he moved into the placing judges' stand for the first race.

Harding, 46, and as affable as they come, had finished some Monday morning gallops, taken a short break, and now was set to go as the runners moved into position for the first race.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Hall of Fame jockeys Mike Smith and Jerry Bailey will both be present for the buildup to the Sept. 16 Woodbine Mile.

But Smith, who rode 14 winners at the recently concluded Del Mar meeting, and Bailey, who retired in 2006, will have very different purposes.

Smith is romantically involved with local jockey Chantal Suther-land and will be taking a working vacation here. Bailey, who retired in 2006, has been engaged to help promote the Woodbine Mile in a variety of guises.

DEL MAR, Calif. - He suffered the slings and arrows of horseplayers who were initially flummoxed by the new Polytrack surface, and by trainers and owners who confronted him over its inconsistency from the morning until the afternoon. But after Del Mar on Wednesday concluded its first season racing on Polytrack, Joe Harper, Del Mar's president and general manager, was all smiles, not only because of his belief that Polytrack was a success, but for the overall business his track did during its 43-day season.

VANCOUVER, British Columbia - When trainer Troy Taylor and owners Glen Todd and Patrick Kinsella hatched their plans for last Monday's S.W. Randall Plate at Hastings with their two-horse entry, they envisioned Winter Warning setting a fast pace to help set up a strong late run by Act of God.

It didn't quite work out that way, but due to a heady ride by apprentice Fernando Perez aboard Winter Warning, they still got the money.

DEL MAR, Calif. - Georgie Boy finished fastest to win the Del Mar Futurity on Wednesday, and he seemingly kept right on rolling Thursday, leaving by van from here early in the morning for Santa Anita, where he is scheduled to make his next start in the Grade 1 Norfolk Stakes at the Oak Tree meeting on Sept. 30.