ALTOONA, Iowa - Chindi, a longtime fan favorite at tracks throughout the Midwest, heads a field of nine, including two entries, in Saturday's $50,000, six-furlong Prairie Meadows Sprint.

Chindi, a 10-year-old gray gelding whose coat has turned nearly white as he has aged, is looking for his first win since last June's $125,000 Iowa Sprint Handicap here. Chindi has remained in good form, however, having finished on the board in all six of his starts this season, recording two seconds and four thirds for trainer Steve Hobby.

SHAKOPEE, Minn. - The Lynn Whiting barn will be represented for the second time at this meeting when Missme takes on seven other rivals in the $50,000 John Bullit Stakes at Canterbury Park.

Missme narrowly prevailed in the Independence Day Handicap at Mountaineer Race Track and exits another sharp try in an overnight handicap at Ellis Park two weeks ago. A stalker who has won 4 of 8 starts over the grass, Missme appears to be the runner who will be setting most of the pace. Scott Stevens has been named to ride.

Wacky Patty accomplished so much last year that it's easy to forget that she is just a 3-year-old. But that is the case, and she will get back to racing with her own age group for the first time since March in the $40,000 Lakeway at Retama Park near San Antonio.

A seven-furlong race for 3-year-old fillies, the Lakeway drew a field of nine horses, with seven of them bred in Texas.

Wacky Patty is one of the few from outside the Lone Star State. Bred in Florida, she is the field's most accomplished runner with five wins to her credit and earnings of $265,489.

The $40,000 North Randall Stakes, a six-furlong race for Ohio-bred 3-year-olds, shapes up as one of the most competitive races of the season at Thistledown.

Cayenne Red is a very quick Cat's Career gelding who has won 7 of his 10 career starts, including a victory in the six-furlong Howard B. Noonan Stakes at Beulah Park on March 27. Since then, he has won 2 of 4 starts, all in allowance sprints. His last race here on July 24 was very impressive when he ran six furlongs in 1:09.60. A similar effort would make him very hard to handle.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Cavans Lane will be an outsider in Sunday's $500,000 Breeders' Stakes at Woodbine, the 1 1/2-mile turf race that is the final leg of Canada's Triple Crown.

But, Cavans Lane will be able to make one claim that none of his fellow contestants can match. He is the only horse to have scored at the distance, having won his maiden at about 1 1/2 miles on the turf in his last start here, on July 24.

ETOBICOKE, Ont. - It was a quiet day on the Breeders' Stakes front Thursday, one day prior to the taking of entries for the $500,000 race for Canadian-bred 3-year-olds.

The Breeders', the 1 1/2-mile turf race which is the final leg of the Canadian Triple Crown, will be run Sunday and a field of 11 is expected.

A Bit O'Gold and His Smoothness would be the only horses to contest all three legs of the Canadian Triple Crown.

SASKATOON, Saskatchewan - Steel Copy and Stage Whisper, racing as separate betting interests for RJ Stable, look like the pair to beat in Saturday's $6,500 City of Bridges Sophomore at Marquis Downs.

The one-mile event, restricted to Saskatchewan-bred 3-year-old colts and geldings, attracted a field of seven. Included in the mix is last year's top juvenile colt in the province, Royal Rush.

Steel Copy is making his 10th start of the year, and his sixth at Marquis Downs after trying to beat maidens at Stampede Park this spring.

OCEANPORT, N.J. - Lion Heart and Rock Hard Ten, the two leading horses in the Grade 1, $1 million Haskell Invitational, will break side by side Sunday in the premier event of the summer at Monmouth Park.

On paper, little separates the two favorites in the 1 1/8-mile race for 3-year-olds. Lion Heart, the Kentucky Derby runner-up, will be the starting highweight at 121 pounds, one more than Rock Hard Ten.

DEL MAR, Calif. - Aside from a victory in the Grade 1 Eddie Read Handicap in 2002, Sarafan has given owner Gary Tanaka a tidy collection of trophies from minor handicaps at Del Mar.

Sarafan won the 2001 and 2003 Brubaker handicaps and Wednesday scored the sixth stakes win of his career in the $79,000 Escondido Handicap.

The victory left trainer Neil Drysdale considering the $250,000 Del Mar Handicap on Aug. 29 for Sarafan, a 7-year-old gelding.

"It was nice to see the old horse win," Drysdale said. "We thought this would be a confidence booster."

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Steve Asmussen is training Lady Tak up to the Grade 1 Ballerina Handicap. His barn is so deep, however, that he still may have the horse to beat in Friday's Grade 2, $150,000 Honorable Miss, which serves as the prep for the Ballerina.

Asmussen, the nation's leading trainer in wins, sends out Savorthetime in the Honorable Miss, a six-furlong race that drew an extremely competitive nine-horse field.