INGLEWOOD, Calif. - The launch of synthetic-track racing at Hollywood Park on Wednesday was favorably received by several of the circuit's riders, many of whom have drawn an early conclusion that the days of speed-crazy racing in Southern California may be over.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Call it the Poor Man's Cup. After last weekend's rain and wind forced the postponement of 17 of 18 races, Aqueduct will run a seven-race card Saturday on Breeders' Cup Day - including five graded handicap stakes.

The Grade 3, $100,000 Turnback The Alarm will be race 3, followed in order by the Grade 3, $150,000 Sport Page; the Grade 2, $150,000 Long Island; the Grade 2, $150,000 First Flight; and the Grade 3, $100,000 Knickerbocker, which concludes the card at 3:27 p.m.

As a Breeders' Cup venue, Churchill Downs has been kind to European invaders. They have racked up 7 victories in the five previous Cups held there with 3 seconds and 6 thirds. Among their winners are the high-profile names of Miesque and Arazi. Among their placed horses are the equally recognizable Hatoof, Swain, and Giant's Causeway.

Owner Harry Aleo and trainer Greg Gilchrist know where the Turf Paradise winner's circle is. They saw it here last December when they brought in the dazzling Lost in the Fog to win a stakes, and then last Saturday when Victorina easily won the Ahwatukee Express. It looks like they'll follow the path to the winner's circle again this Saturday when heavily favored Smokey Stover runs in the $40,000 Saguaro. The six-furlong event for 3-year-olds lured a field of 11.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Saturday's $125,000 Ontario Fashion Stakes at Woodbine is a pivotal race for the Hide and Chic. Run at six furlongs, it will be her third start in Canada in 2006, giving her the minimum number of starts required to be eligible for a Sovereign Award this year.

SAN MATEO, Calif. - Here is an indication of the strength of the field for Sunday's Grade 3, $100,000 Bay Meadows Derby: Corey Nakatani and Patrick Valenzuela will fly here from Saturday's Breeders' Cup at Churchill Downs to ride in the 1 1/8-mile turf race instead of returning directly to Southern California.

Valenzuela will ride the Bobby Frankel-trained German import Proudinsky. Nakatani will be aboard the Neil Drysdale-trained Illuminise, an Irish-bred filly meeting colts after scoring her first U.S. stakes win in the Harold C. Ramser in her last start.

Julie B and Malibu Sue, both winners on the West Virginia Breeders Classics program three weeks ago, face off in the $50,000 Sylvia Bishop Memorial Stakes for 3-year-old West Virginia-bred fillies at Charles Town.

Trained by George Yetsook, Julie B has been the fastest filly at Charles Town, where she is 6 for 7. Her last two Beyers of 82 and 77, for victories in the $315,000 Cavada and its prep stakes a month earlier, tower over the competition.

High-percentage trainers Scott Lake and Ben Feliciano Jr. will each send out two strong contenders in the $100,000 Dave's Friend at 5 1/2 furlongs, one of three stakes on Saturday's 10-race card at Laurel Park.

In addition to the Dave's Friend, which goes as race 8, there are a pair of $75,000, 1 1/8-mile turf stakes for Maryland-breds - the All Brandy for fillies and mares and the Find Handicap. First post time has been moved up to 11:15 a.m. Eastern.

Bill Mott will be at Churchill Downs on Saturday attempting to orchestrate two upsets in the Breeders' Cup World Championships. George Steinbrenner will be in Tampa, Fla., trying to scheme a way to make his New York Yankees better.

Briefly, both men's attention will be focused at Aqueduct, where Grade 1 winners Splendid Blended, trained by Mott, and Sweet Symphony, owned by Steinbrenner and trained by Mott, will be running in separate graded events.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - There are bonds of friendship that often exist between trainers and owners of racehorses. Sometimes those bonds run deep, such as with two-time Kentucky Derby-winning owner Bob Lewis and trainers D. Wayne Lukas and Bob Baffert. When Lewis died earlier year, Baffert described him as a father figure.

Trainer Wayne Catalano and owner Frank Calabrese - the connections of Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies contender Dreaming of Anna and Sprint longshot Lewis Michael - do not share such closeness. Their association is one focused on winning races, not sharing laughs.