Only 21 jockeys in the history of horse racing have won 5,000 races. Perry Ouzts will soon join that elite club. Following Tuesday's card at River Downs, Ouzts is just 16 wins away from the 5,000 milestone.

Ouzts, who will turn 53 on July 7, has won the riding title 18 times at River Downs and 11 times at Beulah Park in a career that began with his first win in March 1973 at Beulah. He has ridden at 23 tracks, mostly in the Midwest, but considers River Downs his home.

"I won my 2,000th, 3,000th, and 4,000th here," Ouzts said, "and I really want to win my 5,000th here."

Apprentice rider Chris Fackler picked up his first win at a recognized track last Saturday evening when Rahy Royal got up by a nose in second race at the Nebraska State Fair at Lincoln.

* Damon Leeds, a regular at Ohio and Indiana tracks in years past, got his first win of the meet on June 21 and then scored a double last Saturday. Chris Fiegen also got his first local win this year on Saturday after returning from riding in South Dakota.

Mary Doser, one of the most popular figures at Great Lakes Downs, is heading back home to Kentucky after way too many miles on the road between there and western Michigan.

Doser, the riding champion at Great Lakes's inaugural meet in 1999, makes her home near Turfway Park, which is located in Florence, Ky., with her husband, the trainer Scott Sowle, and their dogs.

Finger Lakes will soon become home to the first Thoroughbred adoption facility on the grounds of a racetrack.

A ceremonial ground-breaking ceremony Friday morning will launch construction of the Finger Lakes Thoroughbred Adoption Program's Purple Haze Center.

Named in honor of the contributions toward construction made by Wanda Polisseni of the Purple Haze Stable, the center will showcase adoptable retired racehorses to the public and serve as a central headquarters for the adoption organization.

MIAMI - The nomination lists for the eight stakes that make up the $2 million Summit of Speed card on July 7 had Calder's second-year racing secretary Mike Anifantis smiling from ear to ear earlier this week.

"If everyone shows up who told us they were coming, this will be one of the best renewals of the Summit of Speed ever," Anifantis said. "Maybe the best."

And that's saying something, because in its short history Calder's innovative Summit of Speed has become one of the most popular and classiest events of the summer on the national stakes calendar.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. - How confident is trainer Doug O'Neill regarding Lava Man's chances for a record-equaling third win in Saturday's $750,000 Hollywood Gold Cup? He left the country Monday for a weeklong vacation in Ireland.

Last winter, O'Neill planned the trip as a way to celebrate his mother Dixie's 70th birthday earlier this month. It was only later that he realized the dates coincided with Gold Cup week.

"Talking to him this morning, he's going nuts that he's not here," Dennis O'Neill, the trainer's brother, said on the Hollywood Park backstretch Wednesday.

OCEANPORT, N.J. - Roger Attfield was quite happy with Red Birkin's workout Wednesday morning at Woodbine, her final drill before the Grade 3, $150,000 Boiling Springs Stakes for 3-year-old fillies on the turf Saturday at Monmouth Park.

"We're very pleased with the way she breezed," Attfield said from Woodbine after Red Birkin went four furlongs over Polytrack in 47.60 seconds, the second fastest of 36 workouts at the distance.

BOSSIER CITY, La. - Venomous showed again last Saturday at Louisiana Downs that he may be the region's best sprinter. He overcame adversity when he willed himself to a nose win from between rivals in the $50,000 Temperence Hill. The victory was his second at the meet, following a 6 1/4-length allowance win June 1.

Venomous raced on a wet track for the first time in the Temperence Hill. He covered the six furlongs over a muddy track in 1:10.31, earning a Beyer Speed Figure of 94.

GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas - Jockey Eddie Martin Jr. was making the rounds Wednesday morning at Lone Star Park, where he has moved his tack after riding at Belmont. He is named on three horses for Friday night's program, including two for Lone Star's leading trainer Bret Calhoun.

Martin was the leading rider in wins and earnings at Lone Star in 2004. He also led all riders in earnings here in 2003. Martin said he felt right at home here Wednesday.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Lava Man's accomplishments since his first graded stakes win in June 2005 are mind-boggling. The 6-year-old gelding has gone on to win an additional 10 stakes, including the last two runnings of the Hollywood Gold Cup, the last two Santa Anita Handicaps, and the 2006 Pacific Classic. He is the undisputed leader of California's handicap division.

But there are questions about whether that dynasty is ending as Lava Man is being prepared for a shot at a record-equaling third Hollywood Gold Cup win on Saturday.