DEL MAR, Calif. - Ivan Puhich was not looking to go back to work five years ago. He had been on the racetrack since 1944, with time out for a stint in the Marine Corps at the tail end of World War II, and was content to enjoy a semi-retirement, gabbing at Santa Anita's Clocker's Corner in the morning, hanging out at the track in the afternoon. All the fun of the races, with absolutely none of the pressure.

ELMONT, N.Y. - Offlee Wild, the winner of the Grade 2 Massachusetts Handicap, will not race for the remainder of the year after recently undergoing surgery on a knee and ankle, according to his trainer, Richard Dutrow Jr.

"I decided to clean him up," Dutrow said Friday. "He had surgery for a couple different things. He has a little suspensory, too. I'm looking at [the surgery and time off] as something necessary for his future."

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Eurosilver, the 3-year-old colt whose classic hopes were dashed in the spring by a mysterious infection, still has yet to breeze after coming under the care of trainer Carl Nafzger nearly two months ago.

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. - Really, it is a summer to die for. A couple weeks in the country, living serenely on a farm with daily swims. And then a trip to the Spa, Saratoga Springs, N.Y., to cavort with Thoroughbred glamor.

For Summer Mis, it's all part of the job - a job that is going to become considerably more difficult early next month. On Aug. 6, Summer Mis is expected to run in the Grade 2 Honorable Miss Stakes at Saratoga.

MIAMI - Trainer Joe Waunsch held his breath until entries were closed and drawn for Sunday's card, not sure if the $40,000 Dear Murray Stakes would go for his 2-year-old sensation Devils Disciple. Waunsch was eventually able to let out a sigh of relief when the race filled with a field of seven, which included Devils Disciple's two most immediate victims from his one-sided victory earlier this month in the Criterium Stakes.

The local handicap division looks different than it did a month ago, when two stakes were run within 13 days of each other at Louisiana Downs and Lone Star Park, and Pie N Burger was favored in both. Sunday, some of the horses who ran in those races will return in the $50,000 Blue Skies Handicap at Louisiana Downs - but not Pie N Burger.

There are also a lot of new shooters, some migrating toward the race because Lone Star is now closed, and others testing the waters because of the absence of Pie N Burger.

VALLEJO, Calif. - Ten 2-year-old fillies will seek their first stakes win Sunday in the $50,000-added Solano County Juvenile Fillies Stakes.

Kelly's Princess, who drew the rail in the 5 1/2-furlong race for Cal-breds, has the field's highest career Beyer Figure and recently finished second in the Juan Gonzalez Memorial Stakes at Pleasanton.

Trainers Lloyd Mason, Steve Specht, and Duane Offield each enter a filly who won her first start.

Mason bred and owns Cosmic Lady, who won her debut in a $25,000 maiden claimer at Pleasanton.

Why might a maiden who has yet to finish better than third merit more attention in Sunday's $50,000 Tippett Stakes at Colonial Downs than any of the four fillies who are coming off wins?

The answer involves sharp connections and a classy pedigree.

Catlaunch and Dawn's Revenge, a couple of 3-year-olds who have become quite familiar in recent months to Ohio racing fans, rank among the top contenders in the $40,000 Horizon Stakes on the turf at River Downs in Cincinnati.

Catlaunch, trained by Luis Palacios, will be trying to rebound off a seventh-place finish in the Cleveland Gold Cup, a July 4 race that drew the best of the Ohio-bred 3-year-old class. Dawn's Revenge, trained by Jerry Sparks, also exits the Cleveland Gold Cup, having faded to eighth that day at Thistledown.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Sam-Son Farm and trainer Mark Frostad will be looking to keep a streak going in Sunday's Chinese Cultural Centre Stakes, a 1 3/8-mile turf feature for 3-year-olds and upward.

Formerly known as the Hong Kong Jockey Club Trophy Stakes, the Chinese Cultural Centre has been run under its current name just twice and the Sam-Son team has fielded both winners, with Strike Smartly turning the trick in 2002 and Strut the Stage following suit last year.