ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. - Away from home for the first time - really and truly out on the road - Happy Ticket has neither turned a hair nor lost a pound since coming to Arlington Park from Louisiana Downs last weekend. Happy Ticket arrived here Sunday, but the big horse in Saturday's Grade 3 Chicago Breeders' Cup Handicap, My Trusty Cat, will not make her appearance until Friday, when she ships by van from Churchill Downs.

Colonial Downs, the only racetrack in Virginia, has earned its reputation over the past eight years as a desirable location for grass horses in the mid-Atlantic region. This year, Colonial is hoping to expand its reputation even further.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Golden Arrow started the year on a bright note, winning a $60,000 allowance race at Santa Anita in January, but since then frustrations have mounted in three consecutive losses.

On Friday, Golden Arrow will be favored to end that losing streak when he starts in the restricted Flame Thrower Stakes over 5 1/2 furlongs on turf at Hollywood Park.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Following an eye-catching maiden victory, Silver Charades shows up at the first allowance level in Friday's Woodbine feature at 1 1/8 miles on the grass.

A field of eight was drawn for $69,100 race, including several other nicely bred fillies, notably See the Wind, Sheho, and Skippingall Theway.

VANCOUVER, British Columbia - The likely favorites in Friday's $40,000 Dikeakos Architects Mademoiselle Handicap at Hastings are 2005 stakes winners Slewpast and Regal Pusher. Nevertheless, neither horse has ever gone around three turns, and they could be vulnerable in the 1 1/16-mile race. It's the meet's first middle-distance stakes race for 3-year-old fillies.

Trainer Jim Brown said he is hoping to pull off a minor upset in the six-horse field with either Mandi Tambi or Country Kat.

CALGARY, Alberta - Business was not as brisk as usual at entry time Tuesday morning, but two weeks of steady rain will dampen the spirits of even the most enthusiastic trainers, and racing secretary Barry McGrath had to scramble to put together Friday's program at Stampede Park.

The eight-race card, on the eve of the 75th Alberta Derby, has several short fields, but McGrath was able to match up seven older fillies and mares for the featured seventh race.

AUBURN, Wash. - Trainer Grant Forster will play a strong hand in Friday night's feature at Emerald Downs, a $40,000 optional claiming race for older horses at 6 1/2 furlongs.

Forster will saddle three in the field of eight, but they will race uncoupled because of separate ownership.

Oh, to be free of the temptation of slot machines.

Virginia racing interests have that luxury, if you can call it that. While racetracks and horsemen to Virginia's north and west throw almost their entire political efforts into either getting slot machines or retaining the lucrative revenues that the machines have brought, Virginia's racing industry accepts the reality that slot machines won't be legalized anytime soon, if ever, in their state.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - It has been more than a decade since trainer Tom Proctor sent out One Dreamer to a 47-1 upset in the 1994 Breeders' Cup Distaff at Churchill Downs. During the years that followed what remains the greatest win of Proctor's 27-year career, he has never quite been able to recapture that magic, and his friends occasionally tease him about selling his soul to the devil for that one victory.

Golden Gate Fields' next generation of stars will be in the spotlight Saturday in the $75,000 Malcolm Anderson for 2-year-olds.

The five-furlong race, the lone 2-year-old stakes of the spring meeting, will have at least nine runners, including the filly Outta Candy, trained by Ellen Jackson.

Cause to Believe, Don Jaun Con, I Dream of Genius, and Toss the Pearls, all coming off victories, should make the race an interesting one.