AUBURN, Wash. - Back Street Gal heads a cast of nine in Friday's best race at Portland Meadows, a 5 1/2-furlong test for fillies and mares eligible to be claimed for $8,000 to $6,250.

Great Canadian Gaming Corp. has completed purchase of 100 percent of Hastings Entertainment Inc., the operating company that manages Hastings Racecourse, Great Canadian announced Monday.

Great Canadian, in partnership with the Wall Financial Corp., bought Hastings Entertainment from Woodbine Entertainment Corp. for $20.1 million last April, forming a subsidiary in which Great Canadian owned 60 percent. Wall Financial has now received $18.8 million for its 40 percent share, on top of the $5.2 million it initially invested.

ALBANY, Calif. - Rider Iggy Puglisi has joined the jockey colony at Golden Gate Fields.

Puglisi arrived Tuesday night from Southern California and finished second aboard Divine Mark in the first race of the meeting Wednesday.

Puglisi's mounts have earned more than $14 million in a career that began in 1990, when the native of Argentina began his U.S. career at Playfair in Washington.

"I felt like I wanted to ride more," said Puglisi, who had had only 274 mounts this year entering Wednesday's card.

PORTLAND, Wash. - One Fast Cowgirl paid a modest $8 to win Saturday's $19,280 Janet Wineberg Stakes, but that was only because she was coupled in the wagering with two others from trainer Ben Root's barn.

"If she hadn't been coupled with the other two, I bet she would have been 50-1," said Root. "I know I never would have bet on her."

MIAMI - Almost $1.3 million in purses will be distributed during Saturday's 13-race Florida Million card, but such riches are an anomaly compared to the daily overnight fare at Calder. With the purse situation here having deteriorated recently, the passage of Amendment 4 on Election Day may turn out to be a savior for everybody involved with south Florida racing on a year-round basis.

CHICAGO - On the Chicago backstretch in the morning you were supposed to watch out for the car driven by Jim Eckrosh, headed - sometimes erratically - from his stables to the racing office.

Eckrosh seems to be that way, not a man to give up driving even at age 93. For years, he had kept on training a horse or two in Chicago, though home and wife were in Iowa. Eckrosh stayed by himself near Arlington or Sportsman's or Hawthorne at a cheap-ish motel. He made it to the track every day.

CHICAGO - Early on the afternoon of Oct. 13, Silver Bid returned to his Hawthorne barn dirty and ornery. In the first race that day at Hawthorne, Silver Bid missed the break and never got out of last place, finishing a distant fifth in an allowance race where he was a 3-2 favorite to win.

"When we went to take his bandages off he was stomping and kicking, and he never acts like that," said trainer Joel Berndt. "Physically, he was fine. But horses like him, they know. He was mad."

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. - Some of the lazy, hazy afternoons at Monmouth Park next summer could be transformed into evenings under the stars.

Richard Codey, who will be sworn in as New Jersey's governor next week, has some strong opinions on how to restore Monmouth to its past glory. Codey, a former horse owner, would start by installing lights for the 2005 season to run evening cards on weekdays, with Saturday and Sunday racing continuing as matinees.

The engineers have already started the studies to determine the costs.

Black Bart proved any rumors of his demise were greatly exaggerated with a dazzling win in last Saturday's $40,000 Walter Cluer Handicap at Turf Paradise.

The 5-year-old Black Bart won by seven lengths in the 7 1/2-furlong turf race, and set a course record in the process. Black Bart's winning time - under wraps, no less - was 1:27.54. The previous mark was Briartic Gold's 1:28, set in 2003.

"Absolutely awesome," said rider Sandi Gann. "He could have flown."

No matter which set of numbers you choose to focus on, they all point out Manhattan Appeal as a huge threat in Friday night's $50,000 Blue Mountain Juvenile, a six-furlong race for Pennsylvania-bred 2-year-old fillies at Penn National.

Manhattan Appeal will be making her first start since she was claimed for $40,000 by trainer Steve Klesaris last month at Delaware Park, and she adds blinkers. Klesaris shows 32 percent success with a $3.36 return on investment the past two years with first-time blinkers and is a healthy 22 percent, $1.93 ROI first time off the claim.