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.

Leading rider Ramsey Zimmerman is scheduled to begin accepting mounts starting with Friday's card at Hoosier Park after being away from the track since a spill on Oct. 24. Zimmerman was named on four mounts on Friday's overnight.

Zimmerman was injured when finishing third aboard Formal Diplomacy for his main client, leading trainer Ralph Martinez. Formal Diplomacy was caught in tight quarters just after crossing the wire and appeared to clip the heels of two rivals.

It is often said the backside of a racetrack is like a soap opera.

In an episode illustrating that point, two members of Beulah Park's backstretch community are set to have their differences resolved on television soon.

Owner-trainer Tim Maxey and jockey Shelly Moran, who broke off their engagement over the summer, recently taped an episode on "Judge Joe Brown." Maxey and Moran appeared in front of Brown regarding several issues, including whether Moran had to return the engagement ring to Maxey.

They could not make a dent in Happy Ticket at Louisiana Downs, where she launched her career in early June and won five straight races, barely taking a deep breath. Happy Ticket had an easy three-furlong blowout Wednesday at Fair Grounds, and as long as the filly ate up her supper Wednesday night, the Happy Ticket show is traveling to Delta Downs on Friday for the $75,000 Magnolia Stakes.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Clouds of Gold, who seems to have taken her game to a new high recently, will be looking for her first stakes victory in Saturday's Grade 3 Maple Leaf at Woodbine.

The prospective field for the $175,000 Maple Leaf, a 1 1/4-mile race for fillies and mares, is headed by Raylene and One for Rose, the one-two finishers in the 1 1/8-mile allowance prep here Oct. 24.

Clouds of Gold, owned by The Valiant Stable and her trainer, Ken Parsley, was third that day, beaten by 1 3/4 lengths.