BOSSIER CITY, La. - Maid in China, having made one start each at Fair Grounds, Delta Downs, and Evangeline Downs, continues her statewide tour Sunday when she takes on six rivals in the $50,000 Fantasia Stakes. The Fantasia is restricted to Louisiana-bred 3-year-old fillies and will be contested at six furlongs.

PHOENIX- Just last summer you could have claimed Habaneros for $25,000 at Del Mar. It didn't happen, and owner and trainer Tom Bell couldn't be happier. Since that time, Habaneros has won twice, including the Grade 3 Carleton F. Burke at Santa Anita, and has rubbed elbows with some of the best turf distance horses on the West Coast. That r?sum? earned him high weight of 122 pounds for Sunday's $40,000 Wildcat Handicap here and makes him the horse to beat in the full field of 12 at 1 3/8 miles on the turf.

WINNIPEG, Manitoba - The jockeys' room at Assiniboia Downs will be abnormally full for the eight-race opening-day card Sunday, when 22 riders are scheduled to ride.

Highlights of the 75-day meet include the $100,000 Manitoba Lotteries Derby on Aug. 1, the $65,000 Matron Breeders' Cup on Sept. 24, and the $65,000 Gold Breeders' Cup on Sept. 25. A total of $5.5 million in purses will be distributed at the meeting, a daily average of $73,300.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. - It's not every day that a Kentucky Derby winner turns up in a New York-bred stakes at Aqueduct.

But then, Funny Cide has made a career of doing the unexpected.

The chestnut gelding, who gained legions of fans with his dramatic assault on the 2003 Triple Crown, makes his 5-year-old debut Sunday at the Big A in the $75,000-added Kings Point Handicap at 1 1/8 miles.

It will be his first race against statebreds since winning the Sleepy Hollow Stakes at Belmont Park in the final start of an unbeaten 2-year-old season.

AUBURN, Wash. - There was a time when trainer Ed Thompson and owner Bindy Sangara were frequent visitors to Emerald Downs. Back in 1996, the track's inaugural season, Thompson and Sangara brought Name for Norm from their Hastings Park base to run in four juvenile stakes, and he won them all en route to being named Emerald's first horse of the meeting.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. - The 3-year-old filly sector starts over in the Grade 3 Railbird Stakes on Sunday at Hollywood Park. The timing is right, because the division is nearly empty.

Sweet Catomine is retired; Sharp Lisa is out until fall; and Splendid Blended has not been seen since winning the Hollywood Starlet last year. Memorette is the only California filly still trying to do something big, and she is in Kentucky training for the Kentucky Oaks.

FORT ERIE, Ontario - A new-look Fort Erie season gets under way Sunday with an eight-race program of short sprints. Half of them are at 4 1/2 furlongs and half at five furlongs.

The offseason hasn't been pretty for the local horse people. The 117-day 2004 season was originally scheduled to finish Nov. 22. But to provide ample time for a complete rebuilding of the main track, the meet was reduced to 81 days and ended Sept. 6.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Two-time restricted stakes winner Millfleet fits nicely in Sunday's feature race at Woodbine, an $80,000 optional claimer for nonwinners-of-three other than maiden or claiming.

Millfleet, a 4-year-old trained by Hugo Dittfach for owner-breeder Margaret Squires, took some time to come around last year. He went into a slump after winning his maiden in June, but began to blossom in the fall after his growing pains receded.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Woodbine will begin offering a 20-cent superfecta wagering option, with a minimum of five combinations, beginning May 6.

Several racetracks in the United States, including Sam Houston, Lone Star, Hawthorne, and Keeneland, have offered 10-cent superfectas, and Hollywood is set to follow suit.

The Woodbine superfecta will be available only on live Thoroughbred and Standardbred racing through the self-serve machines at Woodbine and its Champions teletheater network. Superfectas generally are offered on the fifth race and the final race on live programs.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Every year, without fail, an unmistakable buzz envelops opening day of the Churchill Downs spring meet. After all, the Kentucky Derby is just one week away, and that alone is sufficient reason for a racing fan to loom boldly at the entrance gates.

This year, however, there has been a heightened sense of anticipation as opening day has approached: a brand new Churchill Downs, not to mention the prospect of yet another riveting Derby, will greet fans and horsemen when the first of 52 spring dates is run here Saturday.