MIAMI - Nightmare Affair assumed undisputed leadership of the local sprint division this summer by following his third-place finish in the Grade 2 Smile Sprint Handicap with a pair of stakes victories. Fortunately for the seven horses entered in Sunday's $40,000 Whippleton Stakes, Nightmare Affair is sitting this one out, leaving the six-furlong overnight dash up for grabs.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Noble Stella looks like a class standout in the $109,000 Flaming Page, if she indeed participates in the supporting feature on Sunday's program at Woodbine.

The Flaming Page, a 1 1/2-mile turf race for fillies and mares, is an overnight stakes, and Noble Stella finished a solid fourth here just last Sunday in the Grade 2 Canadian Handicap at 1 1/8 miles on the grass.

FORT ERIE, Ontario - There are still no signs that trainer John Wilson, at 85, is slowing down.

Wilson, known to the racing fraternity as Jack, scampered to the winner's circle when Cielavia won the eighth race on Tuesday. It was his 12th visit of the year, getting him to No. 10 in the trainer standings.

A more noteworthy fact is that Cielavia was the fourth winner Wilson had in five starts, beginning on Sept. 11. On that day, Jet Engine was in a dead heat for win in the first race and barnmate Sweet Lil Punky scored in the sixth.

WINNIPEG, Manitoba - Deputy Country will try to defend his title in Sunday's Gold Breeders' Cup, the closing-day feature at Assiniboia Downs.

The Gold Breeders' Cup, for 3-year-olds and upward at 1 1/8 miles, carries a guaranteed purse of $40,000, with an additional $25,000 from the Breeders' Cup fund available to all entrants except I'm a Gem, Toubeeb, and Lord Shogun.

Louisiana Downs announced Friday that live racing would be canceled Saturday and Sunday with Hurricane Rita moving closer to the coastlines of Louisiana and Texas. Elsewhere in the state, Evangeline Downs on Friday called off its two remaining live cards of the Thoroughbred meet that was to end Saturday.

Delta Downs, another Louisiana track less than an hour from the coast, had previously announced plans to close simulcasting from Friday through Sunday.

CHICAGO - A curious racing fan looking back to, say, mid-May, would find in Daily Racing Form's Watchmaker Watch, a weekly listing of divisional leaders, 10 names in the older-male category. Ghostzapper is retired. Roses in May is retired. Rock Hard Ten hasn't raced in months. Southern Image - retired. Badge of Silver - hasn't raced in months. Funny Cide - done for the year. Second of June - on the shelf. Eddington - retired. And Pollard's Vision is retired.

If the Breeders' Cup Classic turns into a game of Last Horse Standing, we can always turn to Perfect Drift.

CHICAGO - When Fort Prado, Chicago's best middle-distance turf horse, went to Woodbine for the Aug. 27 Play the King Handicap, trainer Chris Block had no illusions. He believed that at seven furlongs, the Play the King would change the way Fort Prado, a natural eight- or 8 1/2-furlong horse, would race. Block predicted Fort Prado would fall farther behind the early leaders than usual and need to find some way through a bulky field. Block was dead right, and Fort Prado had no luck, trying to weave his way through traffic in the stretch after racing in 12th place on the Woodbine backstretch.

The land on which Kentucky Downs is situated is rich in American history, having been used for a brief period as a site for duels with pistols.

Horse trainer Dallas Stewart knows a little about history at Kentucky Downs, because it was on the same parcel of land, on Sept. 13, 1998, that Stewart sent out a colt named Kimberlite Pipe, ridden by Randy Romero, to win a six-furlong maiden race. Kimberlite Pipe went on to win the Louisiana Derby and more than $880,000 in purses.

ELMONT, N.Y. - Bill Mott finished second in eight stakes races at Saratoga, five of them by one half-length or less. Perhaps Thursday's Auntie Mame Stakes at Belmont signaled a change in fortune for Mott when Connie Belle remarkably won a photo by a nose over Silver Charades.

Mott won another stakes on Friday when Taittinger Rose took the $67,400 Sky Beauty.

Mott hopes the good karma continues on Saturday when he sends out My Lordship against 11 other fillies and mares in the Grade 3, $150,000 Noble Damsel Handicap at one mile over the Widener Turf.

It is not unusual to see a horse improve dramatically once it has been claimed by, or sent to, trainer Scott Lake, whose stable typically undergoes frequent turnover.

What is unusual is the lifetime form of Tacirring, who figures to be favored Saturday when facing seven other older horses in the $100,000 Kentucky Cup Turf Dash at Kentucky Downs in Franklin, Ky.

, now 6, began his racing career more than four years ago, and after 17 races, he had only one win. After 29 races, he had struggled to record four.