Mr. Trieste will spot his rivals from five to 10 pounds when he attempts to win his sixth consecutive race Saturday in the rescheduled $60,000 Kachina Handicap at Zia Park in Hobbs, N.M.

The one-mile race was to be run Oct. 15, but after heavy rains hit the area, the handicap, along with eight other races on the card, was canceled. There were 10 horses set to start in the original Kachina, and seven entered back for this week's running, including leading contender Perfect Moon, who will carry 118 pounds, seven fewer than Mr. Trieste.

Seven of the eight Ohio-bred fillies and mares in Saturday's $40,000 Bobbie Bricker Memorial Handicap at Beulah Park recorded Beyer Speed Figures between 61 and 67 in their last start, indicating little separates the runners in terms of current form.

Upon closer inspection, Patti's Clown, trained by Mike Nance, is the pick. Patti's Clown raced close to the pace and finished fourth, beaten four lengths, against the state's top mares last time out in the 1 1/8-mile Best of Ohio Distaff on Oct. 1.

Ellens Lucky Star goes after her second straight stakes win when she headlines a field of 11 Indiana-bred fillies and mares in the $40,000 Merrillville Stakes at Hoosier Park.

The winner of this six-furlong race in 2003 and third last year, Ellens Lucky Star has consistently been in the money this season but had not won until the Richmond Stakes on Sept. 30. Hoosier's seven-furlong oval has been the scene of her biggest efforts and she sports a lifetime mark of 6-2-2 from 10 starts over the surface.

Bisquik has stepped up his game since the addition of blinkers, and shoots for his second stakes race since September in the $20,000 Woodlands Derby at The Woodlands.

The 1 1/16-mile race drew a field of nine. Other leading contenders include Scarlet Jeff, the winner of the Kansas Thoroughbred Association Derby last out who will add Lasix, and Proper Carson, winner of a recent allowance at The Woodlands.

Given a choice, trainer Tony Dutrow would have preferred to see his 2-year-old filly Loosends make her second career start in a two-turn allowance race.

Rather than wait for the ideal spot, Dutrow has chosen to take a shot with Loosends in Saturday's $100,000 Blue Hen, a 1 1/16-mile stakes at Delaware Park.

United is a two-time stakes winner on dirt and winless in six starts on grass. Contrary to that evidence, trainer George Weaver thinks turf is United's preferred surface.

"He acts like a dirt horse in the morning, but I think he's a better runner on grass," Weaver said. "He hasn't won a race on the surface yet, but he has run well behind some tough turf horses, like English Channel and Purim."

Rainbow Inthestorm, an easy winner in wire-to-wire fashion of his last two starts, looks like a standout in the $50,000 Tri-State Futurity at Charles Town.

The two-turn seven-furlong race is restricted to 2-year-olds foaled in Maryland, Virginia, or West Virginia.

Rainbow Inthestorm, coupled with the maiden Demi Is Smooth for trainer Dale Capuano, has steadily raised his Beyer Speed Figures from 53 in his career debut to 73 in his fourth start, a 2 3/4-length win over first-level allowance runners at Delaware Park.

In his bid to capture the Finger Lakes Juvenile for the third consecutive year, trainer Anthony Ferraro will send out a fast filly against colts in the six-furlong stakes worth $50,000.

Fly to Me, most recently second in the Joseph Gimma Stakes at Belmont Park, appears capable of beating males in this spot. Two starts ago, Fly to Me took on colts for the first time in the New York Breeders' Futurity at Finger Lakes and proved competitive, finishing second to Classic Pack.

Ferraro won last year's Juvenile with Boston Raider and the 2003 running with Mr. Fixed Income.

EAST BOSTON, Mass. - Stylish Sultana will try to duplicate the stakes double achieved last year by top Massachusetts-bred Ask Queenie when she runs in Saturday's $40,000 John Kirby Stakes at Suffolk Downs.

The Kirby, run at a mile and 70 yards last year, will be run at a mile Saturday.

Last year, Ask Queenie scored a 14 3/4-length victory in the Louise Kimball Distaff Stakes before scoring her second stakes win of the year in the Kirby. Stylish Sultana enters Saturday's race off a neck victory in the Kimball on Oct. 8.

AUBURN, Wash. - Jonathan Nance and Jim Fergason have had the battle for leading trainer at Portland Meadows pretty much to themselves the last five seasons, with Nance winning the title at the 2000-01 and 2004-05 meetings and Fergason winning the other three. Both trainers are back this season with large and powerful stables, but they may have company this year.