LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Magna Graduate gamely held off Suave in an electrifying stretch-long duel Friday in the 131st running of the Grade 2 at Churchill Downs, capping a record-breaking day for trainer Todd Pletcher and becoming a horse to watch for the major handicaps next year.

For years, glancing ahead at the winter racing schedule at Turfway Park has been like surveying a minefield: You never knew where something was going to blow up.

With frequent weather-related cancellations dogging its winter racing program, Turfway long has been an unreliable site for racing from late November through early April. Bob Elliston estimates that weather has forced "an average of maybe eight to 12 cancellations each winter" since he became president of the Florence, Ky., track in 1999.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - It may be a simple matter of too little, too late, but the 6 1/2-length thumping that Indian Vale gave older fillies and mares Thursday in the Grade 2 at Churchill Downs may have cast a new light on Eclipse Award voting in the wide-open 3-year-old filly division of 2005.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Talullah Lula is either a complete throw-out in the $100,000 Sharp Cat Stakes for 2-year-old fillies Sunday at Hollywood Park, or she is the best gamble on the card.

A field of eight entered the 1 1/16-mile Sharp Cat, including turf fillies Balance and Cross, and two others that recently drilled Talullah Lula in maiden dirt races - My Little Monkey and Make Mine Minnie. Barring improvement, is difficult to endorse in the Sharp Cat, a prep for the Grade 1 Hollywood Starlet on Dec. 18.

BOSSIER CITY, La. - Before a couple of little things like the Grade 2 Ohio and Super derbies got in his way, Silver Haze had a nice little turf career going, winning both the Excalibur and the Bossier City stakes early in the Louisiana Downs meeting. In Sunday's Woodchopper Stakes, the 3-year-old son of Silver Deputy returns to the surface that trainer Steve Wren considers his future.

"We think he is a better horse on the grass or is going to be better on the grass," said Wren Friday morning. "He sure loves this turf course."

In a remarkable streak, Zarb's Dahar will be looking for his 11th straight win over the Louisiana Downs main track on Dec. 10, when he starts as the favorite in the $100,000 Louisiana Champions Day Sprint.

He picked up win No. 10 on Thursday in the $75,000 , run at Louisiana Downs this year as part of the Fair Grounds meet that moved north in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

Zarb's Dahar was a dominant 5 1/4-length winner of the race, pushing his Louisiana Downs record to 10 for 11.

PORTLAND, Ore. - Colony Lane will shoot for his fourth consecutive win when he heads a cast of eight in Sunday's headliner at Portland Meadows, a six-furlong sprint for $10,000 to $8,000 claimers.

VANCOUVER, British Columbia - Lethal Grande looks like the one to beat in the feature race at Hastings Sunday, a 1 1/8-mile allowance race that goes as the 10th race. Not only is the race called the "Au Revoir" and is the last one on the card, it's the final race of the meet.

Because the Grey Cup, Canada's Super Bowl, is being played Sunday, the first race has been moved up to 11:30 am Pacific.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Barbeau Ruckus will be looking to record his 10th career stakes victory and to boost his bankroll past the $1 million mark when he faces five rivals here in Sunday's $125,000 Sir Barton Stakes.

Barbeau Ruckus, now 6 years old, won the Sir Barton in 2002 and his trainer, Ross Armata, never expected to get another crack at the 1 1/16-mile stakes. That's because the Sir Barton was formerly restricted to Ontario-sired 3-year-old colts and geldings, but its conditions were expanded this year to include Ontario-sired older horses of both sexes.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Best known for being the all-time leading rider at Fairplex Park, Martin Pedroza is chasing a much loftier goal this fall - his first riding title at a major meeting.

After finishing second in the jockey standings at the Oak Tree at Santa Anita meeting that ended earlier this month, Pedroza led the Hollywood Park fall meeting. Through Thursday, Pedroza had 11 wins, two more than Garr-ett Gomez, who won the title at Oak Tree. Pedroza won Friday's first race aboard Flower Hill ($4.20) and the second on Manhattan Express ($6.20).