Fiji Island, winner of the Temptress Stakes on Sept. 3, is one of three 2-year-old fillies entered by trainer James Jackson in the $50,000 Sickle's Image Stakes at Great Lakes Downs.

The six-furlong Sickle's Image, in its 29th running, drew eight Michigan-bred fillies who will each carry 119 pounds.

Fiji Island, who started her career at Keeneland, has had little trouble winning at Great Lakes. She captured the Temptress by two lengths without fully extending herself. She will be ridden by Luis Martinez.

The Woodlands meet may be short, but it won't be short on racing. The Woodlands will open Saturday and run five days a week, with as many as 12 races a card, through the close of the season on Oct. 29.

During the 26-date meet there will be 20 stakes, with six scheduled for closing day, including the $100,000 Kansas Jackpot Futurity for Quarter Horses.

The busy racing schedule is nothing new to The Woodlands, which features separate horse racing and greyhound facilities on the same property in Kansas City, Kan.

POMONA, Calif. - Texcess starts over Saturday in the $100,000 Pomona Derby at Fairplex Park. Although the 1 1/8-mile Derby is his first race in four months, it is a race Texcess should win.

Will he fire first start back?

"He's acting like he will; he's acting dead fit," trainer Paul Aguirre said.

That would be bad news for his Pomona Derby rivals because Texcess already is the most accomplished in the field of 11 3-year-olds. He has won 3 races and $770,625 from 9 starts, is graded stakes-placed, and proven over the Fairplex track.

EDMONTON, Alberta - Beau Brass will shoot for his third victory in the Alberta Fall Classic series when he carries top weight of 121 pounds in the $75,000 Alberta Breeders' Handicap, a 1 1/16-mile race for older horses at Northlands on Saturday.

The Alberta Breeders', one of seven stakes on the program, attracted a field of five.

VANCOUVER, British Columbia - While the $250,000 British Columbia Derby is the feature race at Hastings on Saturday, the supporting feature, the $50,000 Sir Winston Churchill, is every bit as good as the derby, if not better.

How do minor stakes in Germany and France compare to a six-figure but ungraded turf stakes in America?

The answer is the key to unlocking the puzzle that could point out the winner in Saturday's $150,000 Martha Washington Breeders' Cup, a 1 1/16-mile grass race for 3-year-old fillies at Laurel Park.

New York-based trainer Christophe Clement has European import Croisiere set to make her North American debut. Clement has hit with 8 of 29 starters making their American debuts the past two seasons.

Love Locket, the only winner around two turns in a group of seven 2-year-old fillies, is the obvious horse to beat in the $55,000 Irish Sonnet, a one-mile overnight stakes at Delaware Park.

Making her second career start earlier this month at Monmouth Park, Love Locket was able to engage in a duel for the lead that lasted six furlongs and still have enough energy to draw clear by two lengths. Trained by Todd Pletcher, she will be ridden for the first time by Ramon Dominguez.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Circumstances have conspired against Coastal Fortress thus far this year, as she got off to a late start and now has finished second in three consecutive outings.

On Saturday, Coastal Fortress will face six other 3-year-old fillies in the 1 1/16-mile La Lorgnette at Woodbine and could finally get lucky for her trainer, Barbara Minshall.

"She's really coming around," Minshall said. "I think she's improving every race. I'm looking for her to have a peak effort."

FORT ERIE, Ontario - Oh Mar, the holder of the five-furlong turf course record at Fort Erie, is through with racing.

After finishing seventh and last in the fourth race Monday, a $5,000 claimer, Oh Mar, a 9-year-old gelding, was vanned from the track.

"It was a new problem, something he never had before," trainer Campbell Wilson said. "He's okay. He'll be a riding horse. Maybe even a stable pony one day."

Wilson bought Oh Mar privately for $3,000 four years ago at Oaklawn Park when the runner was a little past his prime.

WINNIPEG, Manitoba - Raylene, Alberta's horse of the year in 2003, makes her Assiniboia Downs debut in Saturday's Matron Breeders' Cup for fillies and mares, 3-year-olds and upward.

The Matron Breeders' Cup, run at 1 1/8 miles, carries a guaranteed purse of $40,000, with an additional $25,000 available to the four Breeders' Cup-eligible horses: Raylene, J D's Deelites, Lt. Regent, and Ice Girl.