After the cancellation or postponement of two consecutive stakes for 3-year-olds on this circuit, the division will finally get a chance to run in Friday's $20,000 State Fair Breeders' Special for Nebraska-breds.

CHICAGO - Jockeys at Arlington Park are seeking an increase in fees paid to riders on losing horses, but face opposition from within the Illinois Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association.

In Preakness winner Curlin, trainer Steve Asmussen has one of the best 3-year-olds in the country. Also residing in Asmussen's Churchill Downs barn is Golden Hare, one of the most prolific winners in the country over the past year.

Golden Hare, an 8-year-old gelding whose specialty is starter allowance races, made an excursion to Indiana Downs on Monday and promptly scored a 5 1/2-length win going five furlongs on the turf, a surface he had never previously tried. The victory was the 10th in Golden Hare's past 11 starts, dating back to Sept. 25 at Remington Park.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Richard Dutrow Jr. often speaks plainly in instances when other trainers keep mum, such as the sometimes controversial topic of using a "rabbit" for a superior stablemate. From Dutrow's point of view, transparency is quite all right when it comes to trying to manipulate race strategy in a way to further his own chances.

MIAMI - His Triple Crown run over, trainer Bill Kaplan is back home in south Florida, where he plans to stay put for a while.

Kaplan's 3-year-old Imawildandcrazyguy finished fourth in the Kentucky Derby and sixth in last Saturday's Belmont Stakes. His chances were compromised in the Belmont after he engaged in a bumping incident with Tiago leaving the starting gate.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Roger Attfield has won the Queen's Plate seven times, one shy of the record number of winners saddled by Harry Giddings Jr. between 1911 and 1942.

But Attfield never has won the Queen's Plate with a maiden, which is what he will be attempting to do with Include Us here in Woodbine's $1 million showpiece for Canadian-bred 3-year-olds on June 24.

Include Us has raced six times, with four of those outings coming this season.

ELMONT, N.Y. - While many of this weekend's biggest races will be run at Churchill Downs, the Kentucky-based trainer Eddie Kenneally has sent two of his biggest guns to New York for Belmont Park's two graded events.

Bushfire, who won two Grade 1 races here last summer, is set to make her second start of the year in Saturday's Grade 1, $300,000 Ogden Phipps Handicap at 1 1/8 miles, while Polytrack wonder Mary Delaney will run in Sunday's Grade 2, $150,000 Vagrancy Handicap at seven furlongs.

BOSSIER CITY, La. - Action in the statebred ranks in Louisiana this summer promises to be as hot as the weather.

A couple of key allowance preps last weekend produced at least two possible players for Louisiana Legends Night at Evangeline Downs on June 30 and Louisiana Downs Champions Day on July 21. Both of those programs will be devoted entirely to Louisiana-breds.

Trainer Wes Hawley has begun to move a strong stable of horses into Louisiana Downs after spending the past few months racing in Kentucky. His Louisiana Downs stable will be led by four stakes-quality fillies: Dawn After Dawn, Aly's Vow, Queezee Deezee, and Beyond Infinity.

CHICAGO - Better Talk Now's scintillating win Saturday at Belmont came in the Manhattan Handicap, which at 1 1/4 miles duplicates the distance of the Arlington Million, but Arlington fans envisioning a showdown between 8-year-old Better Talk Now and 9-year-old The Tin Man, the West's grass leader, need to put those visions on hold.