AUBURN, Wash. - Itstufftobegood, who won for the fifth straight time at Emerald Downs on Saturday, isn't eligible for claimer-of-the-meeting honors simply because he hasn't raced for a tag at this meet. All five of his wins have come under $10,000 starter allowance or starter handicap conditions.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - John Velazquez won't put up the record-breaking numbers at this Saratoga meet that he has in years past. Heck, he may not even win his third straight riding title up here. Still, it could be argued he has had his most successful Saratoga meet ever.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - The 5-year-old gelding Battle Won is as durable and versatile as they come.

He has won stakes races on turf and dirt, traveled from Saratoga to Del Mar, and finished eighth in the Group 1 Hong Kong Sprint last year. Saturday, he seeks an elusive Grade 1 victory in the $250,000 Forego at seven furlongs.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Trainer Tom Bush has a strong hand to play in the Saratoga Dew on Thursday at Saratoga.

Bush will saddle two of the leading contenders - Fait Accompli, last year's inaugural Saratoga Dew winner, and Judy Soda, a multiple allowance winner in open company - in the stakes for New York-bred fillies and mares. They will start side by side in posts 7 and 8, respectively, in the nine-horse field going 1 1/8 miles.

DEL MAR, Calif. - Brother Derek is a California-bred, which makes him eligible to the $100,000 I'm Smokin Stakes on Monday. He will be entered in that race. But Brother Derek worked so well at Del Mar on Tuesday morning that his trainer, Dan Hendricks, said he will also enter Brother Derek in the Grade 2, $250,000 Del Mar Futurity next Wednesday, closing day of the Del Mar meeting.

DEL MAR, Calif. - Owner John Amerman will be in the winner's circle following Thursday's $80,000 Adoration Handicap at Del Mar. The only question is whether he will present the trophy to another owner, or merely move the trophy from one hand to another.

CHICAGO - It is getting to be the time of year in Chicago, and many other racing jurisdictions, when an entry-level allowance race for horses 3 years old and upward brings out refugees from maiden claimers, claimers, and every other imaginable kind of race.

Such is not the case, however, in the featured eighth race on Thursday at Arlington Park. This entry-level allowance, at one mile on dirt, drew a field of eight, and there are some serious racehorses in it.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Seaside Retreat, an impressive debut winner on the dirt, should take to the turf like a duck to water in Thursday's Woodbine headliner. A field of seven 2-year-olds will line up in the seven-furlong allowance, which is the prep for the Grade 2 Summer Stakes on Sept. 18.

River Downs will be the site Sunday of a benefit for jockey Gary Birzer, who is paralyzed from the waist down after injuring his neck and spinal cord in a July 20 spill at Mountaineer Park.

There will be a live auction for a saddle towel from Kentucky Derby winner Giacomo signed by his trainer, John Shirreffs, and jockey, Mike Smith, as well as a halter worn by Storm Cat, the prominent sire.

OCEANPORT, N.J. - Bachelor's Gulch is a handy horse to have around the Mark Hennig barn at Monmouth Park.

Owned by Lee Lewis, the 3-year-old Bachelor's Gulch has proved himself equally adept on turf or on the main track in four races on the Jersey Shore this summer.

"Every time he wins, the owner asks, 'What are going to do with him now?' " said assistant trainer Rob Rader. "Does he like the dirt or the grass better? I have no idea."