INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Attima, the top 3-year-old filly in Southern California, is one of 14 invitees to the $750,000 American Oaks at Hollywood Park on July 2, but her participation is in doubt, trainer Julio Canani said on Sunday.

Canani said that Attima has been slow to bounce back after her win in the Grade 2 Honeymoon Breeders' Cup Handicap on June 4. He said she did not eat well for a few days after that race but has acted better in the last week.

Attima has worked once since the Honeymoon, going a half-mile on June 16.

ELMONT, N.Y. - The summer's two biggest races for 3 year-old filly sprinters are the Prioress Breeders' Cup (July 8) and the Test (Aug. 5), each worth $250,000 and a Grade 1 title.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Six months since Carl Nafzger unofficially passed the training torch to his longtime assistant, Ian Wilkes, their shared operation has continued to hum along smoothly.

Nafzger still runs the occasional horse in his name, and through last weekend he had 9 wins from 48 starts this year. The bulk of Nafzger's top horses, however, are now competing under the name of Wilkes, who was 20 for 100 through the weekend.

"It's been a good year so far, touch wood," Wilkes said Monday.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Despite suffering the racetrack equivalent of being kicked in the stomach, Murray Johnson did receive a few measures of consolation this weekend. Johnson is the trainer of Perfect Drift, the 7-year-old gelding who incurred the most wicked of beats when nipped by longshot Seek Gold in the Stephen Foster Handicap on Saturday at Churchill Downs.

Not only did Perfect Drift earn $162,144 for finishing second, but also he signaled that he is ready to rejoin the ranks of the nation's top older handicap horses after running two dull races to open his 2006 campaign.

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. - For Lewis Michael and his entourage, the theme of the weekend was, On to Richmond - or thereabouts. It is actually about 26 miles from Richmond to New Kent, Va., site of Colonial Downs and Saturday's $1 million Colonial Turf Cup, and that is where Lewis Michael is heading after a successful workout on Saturday at Arlington.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Wild Desert, last year's Queen's Plate winner, was stabled in Brian Lynch's barn here at Woodbine then.

But Lynch's thrill was nothing more than vicarious. Wild Desert, who had arrived during Queen's Plate week, was running in the name of trainer Bobby Frankel, who was subbing for trainer Richard Dutrow Jr., who was serving a suspension at the time.

Although Frankel was nominally in charge of a Stronach Stable string here last year, Lynch was the man on the scene throughout the season.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - An extra firm turf course should bolster the chances of the speedy J N J's Executive in Wednesday's Woodbine headliner, an Ontario-sired allowance for nonwinners of three.

J N J's Executive is owned by John and Jessica Pastorek and trained by Sid Attard, the same connections who sent out Absolute Silver for a maiden victory on the grass last Sunday.

CALGARY, Alberta - Last Saturday's $125,000 Alberta Derby here at Stampede Park belonged to Hastings invader Halo Steven.

Halo Steven ($6.60) assumed command immediately under Pedro Alvarado in the 1 1/16-mile stakes and repulsed all challengers.

"He was on the bit all the way," said Alvarado, the leading rider at Hastings. "He's a very kind horse who will respond when asked. After he broke sharply I was able to let him settle on the lead, and we even got a breather in the run down the backstretch."

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - In the span of maybe 15 seconds, Ron Moquett's life and career did an about-face. That's how long it took Seek Gold to surge from last to first Saturday in an incredible 25th running of the Grade 1 at Churchill Downs.

Few trainers, if any, at Churchill had more rotten luck in the last few years than Moquett, who was saddling Seek Gold for the first time since the horse was sold last month as part of a nine-horse package to the Bowman Couch Racing Stable.

The future of racing at the Solano County Fair in Vallejo, Calif., has seemed precarious in recent years, but a decision by the county fair board last week seems likely to ensure long-term racing there.

The board rejected a plan that would have developed the fair and racetrack property into a retail and entertainment center, leading to the demise of racing at the fair. The board had been involved with the real estate company Mills Corp. over the past several years, working on a redevelopment project for the fairgrounds and racetrack.