Jess a Feature, who has won her last three races, has already defeated five of the nine rivals she will face Saturday in the $436,347 Louisiana Quarter Horse Breeders' Association Sales Futurity at Louisiana Downs.

A 400-yard race for 2-year-olds, the LQHBA Futurity is restricted to horses bred in Louisiana.

Jess a Feature won the 350-yard division of the LQHBA Futurity at Evangeline Downs in September, defeating Chicks Salute Me, Special Toast to Gd, A Special Toast, and Jess Cash This, all of whom return Saturday.

Shemoveslikeaghost, who tends to run well fresh, returns from a layoff of more than two months to defend her title in Saturday's $125,000 New Mexico Racing Commission Handicap.

A six-furlong race for fillies and mares, the New Mexico Racing Commission is restricted to horses bred in New Mexico.

Saturday's $100,000 Michael G. Schaefer Mile at Hoosier Park will pose more than a few questions for handicappers when a prospective field of seven takes the track for the meet's only open-company stakes for older horses.

The best-known horses in the field are Freefourinternet, upset winner of the Hawthorne Gold Cup who returns two weeks after finishing last in the Breeders' Cup Classic, and Coach Jimi Lee, who is coming off a money-won allowance victory at Keeneland.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Tensions in the jockey-insurance controversy at Churchill Downs were on display Wednesday when a group of about 10 banned riders walked onto track property to demand the return of their equipment and other personal effects on the first racing day that they were barred from competition.

Churchill personnel ultimately complied, but not before several of the jockeys, led by Shane Sellers, squared off verbally with track security and Louisville Metro Police officers. There were no arrests in the incident,which lasted about 25 minutes.

The ongoing jockey controversy at Churchill Downs has led Team Valor to reach across the Atlantic Ocean to get British standout Kieren Fallon to ride their contenders in upcoming stakes at Churchill.

Fallon will ride River Belle in the $150,000 Mrs. Revere Stakes on Saturday and Shadowland in the $150,000 Commonwealth Turf on Sunday. In his latest overseas voyage, Fallon rode Ouija Board to victory in the Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Allowance races traditionally serve as stepping-stones to stakes. Friday's featured ninth race at Churchill Downs, a three-other-than allowance with an optional claiming price of $80,000, is the other way around. Three of the eight entrants won stakes in their last start, and four others raced in a stakes at some point this year.

The depth and quality is in great part the result of a $60,400 purse. All the recent stakes winners ran for less money in winning their last race.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Country Be Gold will return to familiar stomping grounds when he runs in Saturday's $100,000 Stuyvesant Handicap at Aqueduct.

Country Be Gold, a 7-year-old, was previously stabled in New York with trainer Steve Kappes. The horse has been with trainer Reynaldo Nobles since July 2003 and has raced primarily at Delaware Park, where Nobles is currently stabled.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. - No matter what the calendar tells us, by the looks of Friday's card at Aqueduct, winter can't be too far off in New York.

There are four maiden races - two for New York-breds, one for claimers, and an open race. The other five races are not particularly compelling, either.

The feature is an optional claimer for male sprinters who appear to be past their prime. Six horses were entered in the six-furlong race. Each runner, with the exception of One N Three, is eligible to be claimed for $75,000.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Now that the initial euphoria of winning the Breeders' Cup Mile has worn off, the wisdom of running Singletary back in the Grade 1, $400,000 Citation Handicap on Nov. 27 has been viewed through the prism of realism by trainer Don Chatlos. Realistically, he doesn't see it happening.

"It's unlikely," Chatlos said Wednesday morning at Hollywood Park. "He's just gone back to the track. He's just jogging right now. The Citation is a mile and sixteenth, and that extra sixteenth concerns me. I don't want to jeopardize next year by having something happen now."

INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Sprinting on turf has proven a tonic for Spring Festival, who has won two straight since moving from dirt routes. Now, she has to hope that the nighttime is the right time, too. In an attempt to win her third consecutive race, Spring Festival will headline the featured second race on the second and final Friday night program of the fall meeting at Hollywood Park.

Post time is 7:05 p.m Pacific.