LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Butch Lehr has been watching The Weather Channel very closely and likes what he is seeing. Lehr, the longtime track superintendent at Churchill Downs, said he believes the dirt and turf courses will both be in ideal shape Saturday for the 23rd Breeders' Cup World Championships.

"After today it looks like the rain is out of here," Lehr said early Wednesday as a steady rain began showing signs of easing. "We're getting down to the nitty gritty, and it looks like we're going to be in excellent shape."

The picture remains pretty clear in the mind's eye, Intercontinental out in front and running along at a snail's pace in last year's Filly and Mare Turf, the realization slowly developing that, no, they're not going to catch her, not even the great Ouija Board.

It's a picture that surely has played in the mind of Craig Dollase, the trainer of Dancing Edie, who will try - like Intercontinental did - to steal the Filly and Mare Turf on the lead.

Prop Me Up, third in the Grade 3 Matchmaker at Monmouth Park earlier this season, holds a distinct class advantage over her rivals in the $65,000 Navajo Princess Stakes at the Meadowlands.

A mile and 70-yard turf stakes, the Navajo Princess drew 14 fillies and mares, including two entered for the main track only, but a maximum of nine will be permitted to start if the race remains on grass.

A half-length separated Eagle Speed, Fancy Dan, and Dahlgren Hall when they finished one-two-three in the Vincent Moscarelli on West Virginia Breeders Classic Night three weeks ago. The trio figures to dominate the two divisions of the Tri-State Futurity for 2-year-olds foaled in Maryland, Virginia, or West Virginia on Friday night at Charles Town.

Each division of the seven-furlong Futurity is worth $25,000. The stakes was split because 16 horses were entered and the maximum field size at Charles Town is 10.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Mike Harrington has trained his stable at Hollywood Park for the last two months, but even he was uncertain how his horses would react to racing on the track's new synthetic surface this week.

Harrington had entrants on Wednesday and Thursday and is expected to be quite active this weekend. Friday, he has six entrants on the eight-race card.

"By Sunday night, I'll either be laughing or crying," he said at his barn Wednesday.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The European influence on turf races at Churchill Downs won't wait until Saturday's Breeders' Cup events. The River City Handicap, a 1 1/8-mile grass race on Friday at Churchill, has a strong European flavor, with five of the nine horses entered either European shippers or one-time European racers.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - For the first time since its inception in 1984, the Breeders' Cup telecast will not be available on regular cable television in Canada. The Sports Network, which gained the Canadian rights to the Breeders' Cup when ESPN took over south of the border, will air the program on its high-definition channel.

To receive TSN HD, a customer must have a high-definition-capable television set, an HD cable box or satellite receiver, and a subscription to the TSN HD service, usually through a multiple HD channel package.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – High winds forced the cancellation of racing last Sunday at Woodbine, and the rescheduling of the two stakes from that card has spiced up Thursday’s 10-race program.

The $125,000 Bunty Lawless and the $100,000 Labeeb were both scheduled for a mile on the grass, but have been switched to a mile and 70 yards on the Polytrack, which has changed the complexion of both races.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - As good as Bright One was in romping to victory in three straight races, including the $750,000 West Virginia Derby, that's how bad he was in losing the Indiana Derby on Oct. 7 at Hoosier Park.

Trainer Dale Romans said he has no idea why Bright One, a 3-year-old colt, suddenly went from a budding superstar to just another also-ran when he finished seventh in the Indiana Derby.

"We sure couldn't find a legitimate excuse for him that night," said Romans. "I was as stunned as anybody."

INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Hollywood Park-based Texcess someday may actually race on the Cushion Track surface over which he trained through the fall, but not yet. Winner of the $250,000 California Cup Classic on Saturday at Santa Anita, Texcess will skip the Hollywood Park fall meet and aim for the $1 million Sunshine Millions Classic in January at Gulfstream Park.

"He needs a lot of time between races," trainer Mike Mitchell said Tuesday.