The vacation is over for Flower Alley, who headlines the field Saturday for the Grade 3, $150,000 Salvator Mile at Monmouth Park.

A 4-year-old trained by Todd Pletcher, makes his first start since finishing second to Horse of the Year Saint Liam in the Breeders' Cup Classic. Flower Alley came into his own last summer at Saratoga, with victories in the Grade 1 Travers and the Grade 2 Jim Dandy.

Pletcher said he hopes to use the Salvator as a prep for the Grade 1 Whitney Handicap at Saratoga on Aug. 5.

CHICAGO - That strange-looking pink streak running down the right shoulder of the otherwise gray Fort Prado is the product of a youthful encounter with a farm fence. The fence is one of the few things Fort Prado hasn't outrun.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Short turf races for 3-year-olds at this time of year are regularly filled with entrants that have little experience running under those conditions. That is what makes Smart Enough a standout favorite in Saturday's $70,000 Beau Genius Handicap at Churchill Downs.

is not just experienced running the five-furlong turf distance of the Beau Genius, he also owns a track record sprinting on grass. Last month at Pimlico, he won an entry-level allowance there by racing five furlongs in a course-record 55.73 seconds.

CHICAGO - On raw talent, heads a field of 11 Illinois-breds entered in the Purple Violet, one of six stakes races Saturday at Arlington Park. How many of her opponents would have finished third in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies, or won the Arlington-Washington Lassie? But Original Spin enters the summer of her 3-year-old season with questions to answer.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Wanna Runner, the 9-5 morning-line favorite, will break from post 9 in Sunday's $1 million at Woodbine.

The field of 13 for the 147th running of the Queen's Plate was introduced at the ceremonial draw Thursday, a two-tiered process in which the connections drew for their order of preference and then selected their own post positions.

VANCOUVER, British Columbia - Miss Me Not and Ice Machine look like the ones to beat in the fillies division of the $50,000 CTHS Sales Stakes at Hastings Saturday. The 1 1/16-mile feature also attracted B.C. Cup Debutante winner Excited Miss, who might be suspect at the distance. The other three horses in the race, for 3-year-old fillies who have gone through a Canadian Thoroughbred Horse Society sale, appear to be overmatched.

EDMONTON, Alberta - Smudgeledo, a Washington-bred owned by Lloyd DeBruycker, will seek his fourth victory in five starts this year in Saturday's Journal Handicap here at Northlands Park. The $50,000 Journal, a 6 1/2-furlong race for 3-year-olds and upward, attracted a field of six and launches the 2006 Northlands stakes schedule.

AUBURN, Wash. - Every fan who attends the races at Emerald Downs on Saturday will start out as a winner, as the track will hand out $10 vouchers to all who pay the $4 general admission charge.

The promotion is part of the celebration of the 10th anniversary of Emerald Downs, which opened on June 20, 1996. The voucher giveaway will last until post time for the second race, with a limit of one voucher per patron.

VANCOUVER, British Columbia - Trainer Barb Heads has horses entered in both divisions of the CTHS Sales Stakes for 3-year-olds this weekend.

Excited Miss figures to be one of the favorites in the filly division on Saturday for Heads. She is entering Sungold Wonder and Almost Par in the colts and geldings division Sunday.

Pickets were in place at all seven entrances to Woodbine late Thursday morning after parimutuel workers walked off the job here at 6 p.m. Wednesday over a dispute regarding scheduling and seniority.

Members of the Canadian Racetrack Workers Union, which is aligned with the Teamsters Canada, Local 419, voted on Wednesday to strike. Brian Lawrence, vice president of the Teamsters branch, said that approximately 300 of the racetrack workers union's 600 members had participated in the vote and that the margin in favor of striking was "very decisive."