ELMONT, N.Y. - In an era when horsemen are seeking more time between races while opting for the softest possible spot, no one would have batted an eye had trainer Shug McGaughey elected not to run Alabama winner Pine Island back in Saturday's Grade 1, $250,000 Gazelle Stakes at Belmont Park.

But McGaughey knows if is to have a realistic chance of usurping Bushfire atop the 3-year-old filly division, he needed another head-to-head meeting with the three-time Grade 1-winning filly. From that standpoint, Saturday's Gazelle is the perfect spot.

ELMONT, N.Y. - Todd Pletcher may be keeping his top 3-year-old turf filly in the barn, but he still has an excellent chance to win Saturday's Grade 1, $250,000 at Belmont Park.

A field of 11 was entered for the Garden City, seven of whom are coming off wins in their last start.

While Pletcher is pointing Wait a While to the Grade 1 Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup at Keeneland next month, he will send out the uncoupled entry of Magnificent Song and Jade Queen in the Garden City, run at 1 1/8 miles over the inner turf.

The undefeated After Market goes after win number five in the $500,000 Kent Breeders' Cup Stakes on Saturday at Delaware Park, but the field is talented and extremely deep, easily the toughest he has faced.

A total of 12 runners, plus two also-eligibles, were jammed into the Grade 3 Kent for 3-year-olds at 1 1/8 miles on the turf.

"You put up a half-million dollars and people are going to show up," said After Market's trainer, Bill Mott.

The race originally was scheduled for last Saturday, but was postponed a week because of Tropical Storm Ernesto.

CHICAGO - There is the soap-opera tale of Palace Rumor, the only horse among eight in the barn of trainer Burl McBride not killed or badly injured when a tornado hit Ellis Park last summer. There is California-based trainer Jim Cassidy's annual Arlington invasion; he won the Pucker Up Stakes two years ago with Ticker Tape, finished second in 2005 with Singhalese, and is back with Soothsay. And there is this question: How good is the unbeaten local filly Vacare, who won a pair of Arlington turf races this summer with breathtaking ease?

DEL MAR, Calif. - Me My Mine is not fast enough to win the $65,000 Phil D. Shepherd Stakes on Saturday at Fairplex Park. So say the speed figures.

But pity the poor horse that hooks Me My Mine in the stretch of the 1 1/16-mile race. Eight older horses entered the Shepherd, and several are faster than Me My Mine. But none have as much heart as the scrappy 6-year-old gelding that refuses to lose.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Hide and Chic recorded a 48-1 upset victory in her turf debut Aug. 7 in the Grade 3 Royal North Stakes. She tries another unfamiliar surface, Woodbine's Polytrack, in Saturday's Grade 3, $150,000 Seaway Stakes at 6 1/2 furlongs.

Hide and Chic had a fairly impressive r?sum? before she was shipped here to trainer Malcolm Pierce. Last summer, she finished second in both the Grade 1 Test at Saratoga and the Grade 3 Azalea Breeders' Cup Stakes at Calder.

EDMONTON, Alberta - Maybe it wasn't Seabiscuit versus War Admiral, but Saturday's matchup between Nolan's Cat and True Metropolitan in the $100,000 Speed to Spare here at Northlands Park had the look of a classic confrontation.

A clash between Nolan's Cat, from the United States, and True Metropolitan, a stalwart of the bullrings in the Canadian west, would have generated exceptional interest in the 1 3/8-mile Speed to Spare.

Now, however, Nolan's Cat will not be making the trip.

AUBURN, Wash. - Westsideclyde will stretch out to a mile for the first time on Saturday when he heads a compact field of five older runners in the best race at Emerald Downs, which will be run under $40,000 optional claiming conditions.

VANCOUVER, British Columbia - The fillies division of the $60,000 Canadian Thoroughbred Horse Society Sales Stakes begins the weekend that leads into the organization's mixed sale this Tuesday. The colts and geldings division runs on Sunday.

Horses who have gone through a CTHS Sale where the full commission was paid are eligible to start in their respective races. The 6 1/2-furlong feature drew a full field of 10 2-year-old fillies and goes as the eighth race.

DEL MAR, Calif. - After setting records for all-sources handle for four consecutive years, business dropped by 4.3 percent at Del Mar this summer, but the total all-sources handle of $582,604,451 was still the second-highest in track history.

The track released data after the conclusion of the 43-day meeting Wednesday.

Last year's all-sources handle was a record $608 million. The 2004 meeting had total handle of $580 million.