FORT ERIE, Ontario - The response at the entry box for Saturday's opening day of the 2006 Fort Erie meeting moved the track's racing secretary, Tom Gostlin, to predict a banner season.

"We could have carded two more races," said Gostlin. "I think we have the right format for this track."

Faced with declining revenue from the 1,200 slot machines at the track, which provides about 75 percent of the purse money, Fort Erie has revamped its racing classifications. The number of higher claiming and allowance races has been reduced.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Brian Lynch's name did not appear as a trainer of record for Stronach Stable at Woodbine last year.

But that doesn't take anything away from the fact that Lynch, an assistant trainer, ran the division here while his boss, Bobby Frankel, went about his business in New York and California.

And now the record has been set straight, as Lynch took over Frankel's Stronach trainees at Calder late last fall and now is the outfit's main man here with 38 horses.

Trainer Graham Motion hates his post but likes his chances with the promising grass specialist T.D. Vance in Saturday's $150,000 Miami Mile Breeders' Cup Handicap. The Miami Mile, a Grade 3 turf race, is the highlight of a 12-race card at Calder that features three other stakes, including the $150,000 Hollywood Wildcat Breeders' Cup Handicap, also on the grass.

Saint Augustus and Rehoboth were overmatched in the Grade 1 Florida Derby but have found a suitable spot to rebound in Saturday's $100,000 Unbridled Stakes at Calder.

Saint Augustus and Rehoboth finished ninth and 11th in the Florida Derby behind the undefeated Kentucky Derby contender Barbaro. Neither was a factor in the race after encountering trouble around the clubhouse turn.

With a field that includes a horse who has gone 4 for 4 this season while moving from mid-range claiming company to stakes, another who already owns two stakes victories this season, and a third who captured a graded stakes at Gulfstream Park this past winter, the $50,000 Quick Card at Delaware Park has come up extremely strong.

The one-mile overnight stakes for older males on Saturday drew 10 horses, plus two also-eligibles.

Saint Stephen, winless in nearly a year but good enough to have finished within four lengths of the winner in three graded stakes since June, may have found a suitable spot to regain some confidence in Saturday's $85,000 Henry S. Clark Stakes at Pimlico.

The one-mile turf race drew a field of 10 older horses, including two coupled entries.

LEXINGTON, Ky. - If this is a 1 1/2-mile turf stakes at Keeneland, then Rochester must be in there somewhere.

And he is. For the fifth straight year, Rochester is in the lineup for the $200,000 Elkhorn, a Grade 3 race that helps close the books on the 15-day Keeneland spring meet Friday.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Forgive John Hertler if he accidentally walks into the wrong saddling stall just prior to Friday's fourth race at Aqueduct.

Hertler will be in the paddock to tighten the girth on , a New York-bred whom Hertler received last fall and has run twice, including a victory in the Cormorant division of the New York Stallion Stakes. In the next stall, however, will be Dave, a fellow New York-bred whom Hertler saddled 21 times, including a stakes win in the West Point Handicap last August.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. - The speed that Past Tender displayed in England last year is unlikely to be enough to take him to the lead in Friday's $65,000 Harry Henson Stakes at Hollywood Park. That could work to the colt's advantage.

Drawn on the outside in the Henson, a turf sprint at 5 1/2 furlongs, Past Tender should get a stalking trip Friday in his first U.S. start.

"I think there will be a lot of speed," trainer Tim Yakteen said.

CALGARY, Alberta - For those patrons clamoring for a little variety in their diet after watching half-milers for two weekends

followed by a steady parade of six-furlong sprints, then Friday's program here at Stampede Park adds a little spice to the racing menu.