EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. - Eddington has rarely run a poor race while facing the top 3-year-olds in the nation this season. Those efforts have produced several in-the-money finishes but no stakes wins.

, who has not won since an allowance race at Gulfstream Park in February, finds an easier spot Friday night in the Grade 3, $300,000 Pegasus Stakes at The Meadowlands Racetrack.

The Pegasus is the opening-night feature as the Big M opens a 33-day meet that runs through Nov. 13. First post Friday will be 7:30 p.m.

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. - An enhanced purse structure and a revived stakes schedule should pump life back into The Meadowlands meet that begins Friday night.

"We expect to see a lot of horses and horsemen from New York," said Bob Kulina, the track's vice president for Thoroughbred racing. "Our purses will be the best in years."

The track will offer $300,000 per night, a $100,000 increase over 2003. A budget crunch last year trimmed purses and forced the cancellation of every graded stakes except The Meadowlands Cup.

ARCADIA, Calif. - Pragmatico and Reckless Hero give trainer Gary Mandella excellent chances to win two allowance races at Santa Anita on Friday.

Pragmatico deserves consideration in a $45,000 optional claimer over about 6 1/2 furlongs on the hillside turf course in the second race. Reckless Hero is a top contender in a $41,000 allowance over 6 1/2 furlongs on dirt in the sixth race.

The allowance races are two of the eight races on Friday's program, which begins at 2:30 p.m.

Both Pragmatico and Reckless Hero are coming off victories at Del Mar.

ARCADIA, Calif. - Jockey Gary Stevens was informed Wednesday that he has lost an appeal of a 20-day suspension issued by Italian stewards for failing to ride an unruly mount at Capannelle racecourse in Rome in May. Stevens vowed to fight the ruling, which may prevent him from riding for the first half of October.

CHICAGO - Peruse the early Hawthorne Race Course rider standings and you'll find near the top an unfamiliar name, Emanuel Cosme, who won five races from 18 mounts during the three-day opening week. His total is one fewer than Chris Emigh's, and places Cosme second in the standings, a rank that startles even the rider.

"Yes, I'm surprised by it," Cosme said late Wednesday morning from the Hawthorne jockeys' room. "Some people have really been helping me out."

MIAMI - The possibility of slot machines at Florida racetracks could hang in the balance when voters go to the polls on Nov. 2.

Keeneland Racecourse will lower the takeout on its pick three, pick four, and pick six bets from 19 percent to 17 percent and add a $300,000 guaranteed pick four to each Sunday card during its three-week October meet, Keeneland officials said Wednesday.

As the slot machines churn at Delta Downs, the track continues to grow. The home of the $1 million Delta Jackpot, Delta Downs will soon be home to a 203-room hotel adjacent to the grandstand and casino that has been fueling record purses at the small track located just across the Texas border in Vinton, La.

Delta will open for a 101-night meet on Friday. The meet will run through April 2, 2005, and there will be 15 more racing dates than in 2003.

PHOENIX - Summer vacation is over. It's back to work as Turf Paradise opens its doors for its 49th season here Friday with a 10-race card. The 166-day meet runs through May 22, 2005. Live racing will be conducted five days a week, primarily Friday through Tuesday, with full-card simulcasting seven days a week.

The meet features 44 stakes worth over $2 million, with the highlight Super Saturday on Feb. 12. Three stakes will be run that day: the $150,000 Turf Paradise Breeders' Cup Handicap, the $100,000 Turf Paradise Derby, and the $75,000 Arizona Oaks.

Two-time Grade 1 futurity runner-up Lindas Dasher will be challenged by fastest qualifier Chicks Like Us in the Grade 1, $301,000 Pacific Coast Quarter Horse Racing Association Futurity on Saturday night at Los Alamitos.

The weekend of major races sponsored by the PCQHRA starts Friday night with Babe on the Fly and Well I Never in the Grade 2, $144,000 PCQHRA Derby.