GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas - The nine-race card at Lone Star Park on Thursday night could be considered an equal opportunity card. There are two entry-level allowance races on the program, one for males, and the other for females.

The boys are up first, with Boogie Hill taking on Vienna Circle in the seventh race, a one-mile allowance for 3- and 4-year-olds. Boogie Hill rallied for second at this distance and level last time, when he met one of the more impressive 3-year-olds at the meet in Thunder Mission.

VALLEJO, Calif. - There are many variables in horse racing, including the jockey. Thursday's feature race at the Solano County Fair, however, doesn't appear to be a race in which a rider's tactics can spell the difference between victory and defeat.

There are several obvious contenders in the $6,250 claimer for nonwinners of two races lifetime, and several who seem overmatched in the 5 1/2-furlong race no matter who is aboard.

CHICAGO - On May 29, trainer Greg Geier slipped Vitamin Bag into an overnight turf stakes at Arlington, and she scored by a half-length at odds of 40-1. Three weeks later, Geier sent You Dancing Devil into an entry-level Illinois-bred turf allowance race, and this one won at odds of 61-1.

Rarely has the crusty axiom, "Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me," been more appropriate.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Jambalaya will prep for a possible start in the Aug. 7 Breeders' Stakes, the third leg of the Canadian Triple Crown, in Thursday's Woodbine feature, a 1 3/8-mile preliminary allowance on the grass.

Jambalaya was beaten by more than 10 lengths in both of his main track outings early in the meeting, but found new life in his first turf attempt at 1 1/16 miles on June 12. After an outside stalking trip, he won his maiden by daylight that day, earning a respectable 84 Beyer Speed Figure.

AUBURN, Wash. - Mt. Vista heads a field of eight in Friday's Emerald Downs feature, a $7,500 claiming race at 1 1/16 miles.

Rodeo's Castle, who has developed into one of the best sprinters in the region since winning his maiden for a claiming price of $7,500 last October, vanned out of his Louisiana Downs base Tuesday for Canterbury Park, where he will race in the Claiming Crown, said his owner, Byron House III.

AUBURN, Wash. - Trainer Tim McCanna couldn't have asked for a better result in last Sunday's $60,000 Kent Handicap for 3-year-old fillies, as his entry of Gins Majesty and Queenledo ran first and second at Emerald Downs.

All the same, McCanna had mixed emotions about seeing Queenledo lose for the first time in four starts this year.

"It was a weird feeling watching them come down the lane," he said. "I was yelling for Queenledo because she was behind. I guess I was hoping for a dead heat. I'm glad Gins Majesty won it, but I hated to see Queenledo get beat."

OCEANPORT, N.J. - The lightly raced Tell No One should get rolling a little sooner than last time in Thursday's featured $39,000 allowance race for fillies and mares on the turf at Monmouth Park.

Tell No One closed from ninth to fifth last time out at Monmouth and lost by only 1 1/4 lengths.

Joe Bravo will likely see that that does not happen again as he replaces Richard Monterrey for trainer Michael Matz. Bravo, the track's leading rider, is also the best grass rider on the circuit.

ELMONT, N.Y. - After a month's respite following his dominant Belmont Stakes victory, Afleet Alex returned to work Sunday morning, breezing five furlongs in 1:00.93 over Belmont Park's main track.

Regular rider Jeremy Rose was aboard Afleet Alex, whose time was the 13th fastest of 40 timed works over the main track, which was rated fast. Belmont Park clockers caught Afleet Alex in fractions of 13.42 seconds, 25.75, 37.73, and 49.44, meaning he got his last eighth in 11:59 seconds. Clockers timed Afleet Alex galloping out six furlongs in 1:14.58 and seven-eighths in 1:29.33.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. - When Lava Man walked into the starting gate at 6-1 for Saturday's $750,000 , co-owner Jason Wood shrugged and thought to himself that the gelding just cannot earn any respect.

About two minutes later, opinions quickly changed.

Lava Man won the Gold Cup by a record 8 3/4 lengths, the widest winning margin in the 66-year history of the race. Lava Man was always close to the front, stalking the pacesetter, Congrats, to the top of the stretch before drawing off.