FLORENCE, Ky. - Turfway Park, which will become the first North American track to conduct racing over a Polytrack surface when its fall meet begins Sept. 7, opened its new surface for training Wednesday morning. More than two dozen horses jogged and galloped, and afterward participating horsemen praised the surface.

OCEANPORT, N.J. - Add Palladio to the lineup for the Grade 1, $1 million on Sunday at Monmouth Park.

Trainer Roger Attfield confirmed Wednesday that Palladio, winner of the Ohio Derby, will ship from Woodbine to the Jersey Shore along with the filly Noble Stella, who will run Sunday in the Grade 3, $150,000 Taylor Made Matchmaker Stakes.

Attfield was not certain Palladio could make the Haskell after the colt contracted a virus after his one-length victory in the Ohio Derby on July 2.

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. - Seven horses were entered Wednesday for Saturday's $150,000 Sea O'Erin Handicap. The favorites are the New York-based Remind and the Chicago-based Fort Prado. Gin and Sin, Old Deuteronomy, and Parker Run call Louisville, Ky., home this summer, while Gondolieri, like Fort Prado, has been training in Chicago.

SANTA ROSA, Calif. - Athletes come in all shapes and sizes, as trainer Armando Lage knows.

When he sends Lake Merced out for her California debut in Friday's Solano County Fair feature, a first-level allowance race for fillies and mares at six furlongs, he is hoping that he has a Charles Barkley.

"She's pretty," he said.

He admits, though, "She's a little heavy."

Lage believes in steady works as preparation for a horse coming off a layoff. He doesn't push hard, which may explain his low percentage with horses coming off a long layoff.

Talk about staying power. Trainer Danny Pish will begin his quest for a seventh straight Retama Park title on Friday, when the San Antonio area track opens. The meet will run through Oct. 15.

Pish has a 90-horse stable that is divided between Retama and his training center in San Antonio. The numbers make him tough to beat, but to keep a streak going for so long is also a testament to his work ethic. It takes quality horses, but also intense diligence to maintain the top spot.

"Hopefully I can get the lucky seven," said Pish. "I don't want to take anything for granted."

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Trainer John Ross and jockey Steven Bahen conjured up a Breeders' Stakes victory with John the Magician here in 1997.

Ross and Bahen hope to pull another surprise package out of the hat at Woodbine on Sunday when Stephen's Gift, who will be trying turf for the first time, starts in the $500,000 Breeders' over 1 1/2 miles.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Nashinda, who was scratched from Monday's Grade 3 Royal North Handicap, heads Friday's Woodbine feature, an allowance race that two in the field will use as a prep for the Aug. 21 Victoriana Stakes.

The one-mile turf event has lured an excellent field of seven fillies and mares, including Ambitious Cat, Kabul, and Financingavailable.

WINNIPEG, Manitoba - Speed reigned supreme for the first six races of Monday's Manitoba Derby Day card. But when it came time for the eighth and final race of day, Prime Time T.V. ($8.10) rallied from last to take the $100,000 Manitoba Lotteries Derby.

SASKATOON, Saskatchewan - Five Saskatchewan-bred 3-year-old fillies meet in Friday's $6,500 James Leakos Sophomore at Marquis Downs. Run at a mile, the race honors the late James Leakos, who was one of the province's most influential breeders and owners in the 1980's.

OCEANPORT, N.J. - The $1 million , the richest race in New Jersey, has become easy pickings for high-profile owners, trainers, and jockeys who invade Monmouth Park and make off with the money.

The last Monmouth-based Haskell winner was Skip Away in 1996. Recent out-of-state winners include the Bobby Frankel-trained Peace Rules, as well as Point Given and War Emblem, who were both trained by Bob Baffert. Baffert will send out expected favorite Roman Ruler in Sunday's Haskell.