Summer officially began June 21, but as far as Kentucky racing is concerned, it doesn't start in earnest until horses start racing at Ellis Park.

That unofficial start to summer arrives Wednesday at Ellis, where 54 days of action will coincide with a somewhat slower pace of life than that at Churchill Downs.

Long known as "the Pea Patch" for its agricultural aura, Ellis offers a brand of racing reminiscent of country fairs and other less urbane elements, and its continued vibrancy serves as a reminder that there still is room in racing for something a little different.

For years, if not decades, racetrack administrations have wrestled with the issue of whether a five-day or six-day race week is better for themselves and their customers.

Six days has its advantages for obvious reasons, almost all of them involving the additional revenue produced by the additional day of opening the racetrack doors. But a longer week also can have a draining effect on fans, horsemen, and other everyday participants, with the negatives ultimately offsetting the positives.

OCEANPORT, N.J. - Trainer Joe Orseno has a filly in each of two main-track allowance races Wednesday at Monmouth Park, and both look well spotted.

Orseno saddles Earthquake Ride in the third and Meadow Fox in the seventh, with leading jockey Joe Bravo set to ride both.

Earthquake Ride returns to dirt for the mile and 70-yard contest following seven straight turf races. Orseno said he made the surface switch partly because he was concerned about Monmouth's rock-hard turf course.

OCEANPORT, N.J. - Meteor Storm, the major disappointment in the Grade 1 United Nations on Saturday at Monmouth Park, bled during the race.

The winner of the Grade 1 Manhattan in his previous outing, he was never a factor in the U.N. He had a wide trip while racing in midpack and never kicked in with a serious late run. Meteor Storm finished seventh at 2-1, ending a three-race winning streak.

PLEASANTON, Calif. - Three-year-olds with ability are always in high demand, even after the Triple Crown. Six interesting 3-year-olds meet in Wednesday's feature at the Alameda County Fair, a $40,000 optional claimer at a mile and 70 yards.

"You are always looking for a useful 3-year-old," said trainer Don Mills, who claimed Aza for $25,000 from a stakes victory two starts back.

With speed playing well here the first week, Aza seems a strong contender. He stalked the pace but had no rally when he met better at Hollywood Park in his first start for Mills.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Stakes-placed fillies La Salle Glory and Swift of Flight should be well-backed in Wednesday's third race at Woodbine, a six-furlong first-level allowance on the grass.

La Salle Glory, owned and trained by Bev Buck, was second in the Juvenile Stakes at Fort Erie last year. She raced on the grass in her two starts this year, the first of which was a second in a May 30 allowance.

EDMONTON, Alberta - No sooner had Chief Mtn flashed under the wire an easy 5 1/4-length winner in last Thursday's $40,000 Western Canada than owner Trish Murphy dispatched trainer Red Robertson to pick up his papers.

The plan had been to hitch up the trailer the next morning and take Chief Mtn. back to Sunray Park in New Mexico.

CHICAGO - Toasted and Ballingarry, winners of Arlington's pair of graded turf stakes over Independence Day weekend, are coming back from California for more on the Aug. 14 International Festival of Racing here. Toasted will run in the Secretariat for 3-year-olds, Ballingarry in the Arlington Million.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - There will again be no winner of the Canadian filly triple crown series this year, after Touchnow derailed the seemingly invincible Eye of the Sphynx in Fort Erie's 1 1/16-mile Bison City on Sunday.

But that won't stop Touchnow and Eye of the Sphynx from renewing their rivalry in the final leg of the series, the $250,000 Wonder Where over 1 1/4 miles of turf here Aug. 1.

Trained by Reade Baker, Touchnow had finished second to Eye of the Sphynx in the opening leg of the series, the 1 1/8-mile Woodbine Oaks on June 13.

FORT ERIE, Ontario - Touchnow, under the clever handling of jockey Patrick Husbands, prevailed by a neck following a stretch long-duel with the previously undefeated 1-9 favorite Eye of the Sphynx to capture the $250,000 Labatt Bison City Stakes here Sunday.

The 6-1 second choice in the field of six for the 1 1/16 mile Bison City, Touchnow ensured that the Triple Tiara for Canadian-bred 3-year-old fillies would remain unclaimed through the fifth year of its existence.