VANCOUVER, British Columbia - The live handle at Hastings is down considerably compared with last year. Part of the reason for the substantial decline is that there have been fewer racing days this year, 22 as compared with 26 last year, but the daily average all-sources average handle on Hastings races is also down, by 13.7 percent.

Comparing figures through July 2, the total live ontrack handle at Hastings this year is $6,475,146, while last year, with four more days, the total was $8,459,426. That's a 23.5 percent drop overall, a 9.5 percent drop in daily average.

OCEANPORT, N.J. - Suzzane made a very positive impression in her first U.S. start.

A 5-year-old mare bred in Argentina, Suzzane finished third, beaten only a neck, in a seven-horse field in the West Long Branch Stakes at Monmouth Park on June 10.

Trainer Joe Orseno expects an even better effort here Sunday the $60,000 Blue Sparkler Stakes for fillies and mares at six furlongs.

"It was a great debut," Orseno said. "I knew we were a work or two away from really being ready. It was a short field, so we decided to take advantage of it.

AUBURN, Wash. - She's All Silk's speed is an awesome weapon, as she demonstrated when she blitzed her field in last month's Washington State Legislators Handicap at 6 1/2 furlongs. Too much of a good thing can be a bad thing, however, and that appeared to be the case in Wednesday's one-mile King County Handicap for fillies and mares.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Declan's Moon, the champion 2-year-old male of 2004, ended a seven-race losing streak with a come-from-behind victory in an optional claimer at Hollywood Park on Thursday.

Declan's Moon has run near the lead in most of his races, and the style of his Thursday victory pleased trainer Ron Ellis. Ellis and owners Mace and Samantha Siegel are considering Declan's Moon for the $300,000 Bing Crosby Handicap at Del Mar July 29.

The Grade 1 Bing Crosby is run over six furlongs, and Ellis said he wants to keep Declan's Moon at six or 6 1/2 furlongs.

ELMONT, N.Y. - After trying to resuscitate his career in Florida, New Jersey, and then California, Jorge Chavez is coming home to New York.

Chavez, who dominated the New York Racing Association circuit in the 1990s, will return to New York next weekend, where he will ride the final seven days of the Belmont summer meet and all of Saratoga.

Chavez has spent the last 11 months in Southern California, and though he had at one time planned to relocate there permanently, it was his family's wishes that he return to New York.

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. - Horses based at Arlington Park figure to play a key role in the July 21 Virginia Oaks at Colonial Downs.

FORT ERIE, Ontario - Trainer Daryl Ezra, who captured Fort Erie's first Cup race last week with the filly Speedstorm, will be back for more in Sunday's second Cup race, the Holiday Inn/Fort Erie Cup.

Nine Cup races are scheduled this year. Each Cup race has a purse of $25,000 and will be restricted to runners that have a specified number of previous starts at the meet.

The 1 1/16-mile Holiday Inn Cup is open to males who have started at least twice this meet. Last week's Cup race was for fillies and mares.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - It's certainly unusual for an 8-year-old horse to conclude one career and begin a new one just three days later.

But that's the story of Shaws Creek, who finished seventh at the $25,000 claiming level here at Woodbine last Sunday and had begun on-the-job training as the stable pony for trainer John Ross by Wednesday.

"We just decided he'd had enough," said Ross, who trained Shaws Creek for the Jam-Jar Racing Stable of Bud and Jackie Reynolds. "He'd been so good to us through the years."

Few horses have ever beaten either True Tails or Seekingthereinbow to the lead. But the promising Moroccan Rose did in her last start, when she faced them both and finished second in what was her stakes debut. She is now being pointed for the $125,000 Hallowed Dreams Breeders' Cup at Louisiana Downs, trainer Frank Betancourt said.

The six-furlong race for fillies and mares will be part of a four-stakes program here Saturday, July 14. The purses for the races total $350,000.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. - The $2 bettor in Jack Ford knew he had to take a stab at the pick six carryover of $3,274,505 at Hollywood Park on Monday. What he did not realize until Thursday night was that he and his daughter Lyn were the biggest winners of the largest pick six pool in North American history.

The Fords, who live in Orange County, Calif., hit the pick six twice on Monday for a pre-tax return of $1,154,368. The winning tickets, each worth $576,064, cost $2 and $4.