VALLEJO, Calif. - Despite stopping while sprinting in her comeback, Fantastic Year has a chance to go wire-to-wire in her first try at two turns on Thursday at the Solano County Fair.

Five other 3-year-old fillies face Fantastic Year in a $40,000 optional claimer at one mile.

Given a 10-week freshener and sent north to high-percentage trainer Terry Knight, Fantastic Year stalked a fast pace early before fading badly in an optional claimer on June 18 at Golden Gate Fields. The winner of that race, Court Seeker, is nominated to Saturday's Fairfield Stakes.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Arteur and Kalyptic, who are both dropping from a one-other-than allowance to a nonwinners-of-two-lifetime, are among the more likely winners in Thursday's Woodbine feature.

A field of 14 was drawn for the nonwinners-of-two event, which has a purse of $36,700, slightly more than half of a one-other-than. Two of the entrants in the 6 1/2-furlong grass race are stuck on the also-eligible list.

EDMONTON, Alberta - A rare Thursday night card here marks the beginning of Klondike Days, which winds up with the holiday Monday program on Aug. 1.

Ice Girl will be seeking her second straight win in Thursday's feature, a one-mile optional claimer for fillies and mares.

The nine-race card begins at 6 p.m.

AUBURN, Wash. - Bigrockcandymountn is the one to catch in Thursday's Emerald Downs feature, a six-furlong test for $7,500 claimers that has drawn a field of eight.

OCEANPORT, N.J. - It wasn't until Irenes' Song was gelded last year that he started to focus on what was expected of him.

Now 4, comes out of a career-best, front-running victory in a four-horse allowance race that came off the turf. He goes for another win Thursday in the $41,000 featured allowance race at Monmouth Park on the grass.

If Thursday's race stays on the grass, Irenes' Song will make his turf debut in the one-mile allowance.

"We just want to open up another avenue for him," said Pat McBurney, assistant trainer to John Forbes.

BOSSIER CITY, La. - If there is one division in which perennial training champ Cole Norman has excelled in recent seasons, it would be in the older male sprinter ranks. Among Norman's top sprinters in recent years are Beau's Town, That Tat, Electrode, and Top Commander.

OMAHA, Neb. - Summer racing in Nebraska heats up several degrees this weekend as Horsemen's Park begins its four-day Summer Festival of Racing on Thursday. The festival is the only live racing of the year in Omaha, former home of Ak-Sar-Ben, Nebraska's largest racetrack before it went out of business in 1996.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - With Wholelottabourbon on the shelf, the Nick Gonzalez stable needed a new pick-me-up.

That role has been adequately filled by Wannatalkaboutme, who recorded her second straight stakes score here in last Sunday's $162,850 .

Wannatalkaboutme, like Wholelottabourbon, is owned by M.A.D. Racing Stable and Martha Gonzalez, Nick's wife and assistant.

Born with a breathing problem that could ultimately limit her career, Wannatalkaboutme ran for a $40,000 claiming price in her opener and was an easy winner over 4 1/2 furlongs.

AUBURN, Wash. - Trainer Ben Root saddled three winners from six starters at Emerald Downs last week, improving his record at the meeting to 12 wins from 54 starters for a 22 percent success rate.

That is a gratifying run by anyone's standards, but this season's success is especially sweet for Root, who took a beating here at the last two meetings. Despite coming off highly successful stints at Portland Meadows, Root was just 2 for 29 here in 2003 and 3 for 87 last year.

DEL MAR, Calif. - The loudest cheer on opening day of the 2005 Del Mar meet will be for - ahem - $25,000 maiden claimers. Is that such a bad thing?

California racing will accept whatever cheers it can get, and if the biggest roar from the crowd happens to be for maiden claimers, then so be it. As long as the first race of summer is two turns - it starts in front of the grandstand and close to an estimated 40,000 raucous fans - nothing spoils this beach party.