ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Earthquake Ride could be peaking at the right time in Thursday's fourth race at Woodbine, a $40,000 conditioned claimer on the grass. A field of seven fillies and mares was drawn for the one-mile turf event, for non-winners of three lifetime.

Earthquake Ride, 3, was stakes-placed last year at The Meadowlands and won a 1 1/8-mile allowance at Gulfstream in April. After running off form in two second-level allowances at Monmouth Park in the summer, she was sent here to trainer Norm McKnight.

GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas - Ted Williams in his final at-bat hit a home run, ran into the dugout, and never came out to doff his cap, despite the cheers of the Fenway Park crowd. But Willie Mays extended his career well beyond his prime, and it ended ingloriously with the Mets.

It is difficult for an elite athlete to know when to say when. The factors to be weighed include family obligations, financial considerations, and a sheer love of their sport. In racing, many jockeys who think they are done miss it greatly and return. Others, like Chris McCarron, walk away and never look back.

CHICAGO - Greta Kuntzweiler came to Illinois from Kentucky last summer hoping to shake things up. But it is a Kentucky-based horse owned by a Nebraskan living in Alabama that will take Kuntzweiler to Texas.

It is a strange state of affairs - perhaps career-making. But Kuntzweiler doesn't focus on the fast track, and neither does Freefourinternet, the horse she rides Saturday at Lone Star Park in the $4 million Breeders' Cup Classic.

SAN MATEO, Calif. - Two interesting races should get Breeders' Cup week off to a good start at Bay Meadows on Wednesday.

A first-level allowance sprint for fillies and mares and a five-furlong turf dash for $32,000 claimers both offer quality and quantity for bettors, an all-too-rare occurrence of late.

Please Lord, a $140,000 2-year-old purchase last year, and Vaca City Flyer, who was claimed for $8,000 from her maiden victory this year at Solano, are the ones to beat in the six-furlong allowance sprint, which goes as the sixth on Wednesday.

ARCADIA, Calif. - Pico Central, who will not run in the Breeders' Cup Sprint because his owner balked at paying a $200,000 supplement, worked Sunday at Hollywood Park for the $350,000 Cigar Mile at Aqueduct on Nov. 27. Pico Central breezed a half-mile in 48.80 seconds, which tied for the 11th-fastest of 37 recorded works at the distance.

Lobo has a plan for four more workouts for Pico Central before the Cigar Mile and the horse's fourth cross-country trip this year.

SAN MATEO, Calif. - Two interesting races should get Breeders' Cup week off to a good start at Bay Meadows on Wednesday.

A first-level allowance sprint for fillies and mares and a five-furlong turf dash for $32,000 claimers both offer quality and quantity for bettors, an all-too-rare occurrence of late.

Please Lord, a $140,000 2-year-old purchase last year, and Vaca City Flyer, who was claimed for $8,000 from her maiden victory this year at Solano, are the ones to beat in the six-furlong allowance sprint, which goes as the sixth on Wednesday.

CHICAGO - You don't have to put your ear to the ground to hear grumbling on the backstretch when Chicago's racing season switches from idyllic Arlington to hard-core Hawthorne. Just don't count trainer Spanky Broussard among the complainers.

"I've been going to Hawthorne for 40 years," Broussard said. "I've been there since Kelso. I don't have any problem with Hawthorne."

OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Aqueduct, the track with the longest racing season among New York Racing Association tracks, opens its doors for a 43-day fall meet on Wednesday. Racing will continue at Aqueduct through May 1, with the winter-spring meet to follow the fall meet.

ARCADIA, Calif. - Last Sunday, owner Charles Cono and trainer Christopher Paasch won the Anoakia Stakes with Hello Lucky. Wednesday, they send out Conveyor's Angel in the $75,000 Hidden Light Stakes at Santa Anita.

The Hidden Light is for 2-year-old fillies over a mile on turf. Restricted to nonwinners of a stakes at a mile or farther, the Hidden Light is considered a prep to the $100,000 Miesque Stakes at Hollywood Park on Nov. 26.

is the only filly among the seven entrants who has won around two turns on turf.

"I think I have a huge advantage," Paasch said.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Wholelottabourbon will try to stake his claim to the Sovereign Award as this year's champion 2-year-old in Wednesday's $132,750 Frost King, a seven-furlong Ontario sire stakes.

Wholelottabourbon has lost only once in five starts, a second to future Cowdin Stakes winner Flamenco in the Victoria Stakes in June. He won a pair of open stakes during the summer - the 6 1/2-furlong Silver Deputy and the six-furlong Colin, in which he earned an 82 Beyer.