Last year at Louisiana Downs, trainer Donnie Von Hemel developed 3-year-old Waupaca into a turf stakes winner. This year, he may do the same with Rollicking Caller.

Rollicking Caller, a 3-year-old trained by Von Hemel, could rule a slight favorite in a competitive $50,000 Excalibur Stakes in Bossier City, La., on Saturday. Already a winner over the local turf course, he will take on 11 others in the about one-mile turf race for 3-year-olds, including stakes winners Britt's Jules, Foxtrot Oscar, Old Lee, Mr. Devious, and the promising Oncearoundtwice.

MIAMI - Yes It's Gold and Aclassysassylassy have a lot in common. Both 2-year-old fillies won their career debuts by half a pole, ran 4 1/2 furlongs in under 53 seconds, and earned Beyer Speed Figures in the mid-80's, beating up on four rivals of little or very limited ability at best.

SASKATOON, Saskatchewan - Double Time will be in search of his ninth consecutive victory over the Marquis Downs track in Saturday's $5,000 Early's Farm and Garden Centre Handicap.

The six-furlong feature for 3-year-olds and upward drew just four entrants, and Double Time should be the prohibitive choice.

Double Time, owned by Redbird Farm, has won the first two allowance races for the division here this spring, including the six-furlong prep for this race last Friday.

WINNIPEG, Manitoba - Stonewall Harris likely will be favored as he looks for his first stakes win in Saturday's $40,000 Manitoba, a one-mile race for Manitoba-bred colts and geldings.

Stonewall Harris began 2004 with a win over maiden claimers and was claimed for $15,625 by trainer Harry Kube for owner Kurt Zimmer.

Stonewall Harris followed his maiden score with an impressive win over first-level allowance foes May 28, then finished third in the Golden Boy Stakes in his most recent start.

FORT ERIE, Ontario - Pembroke Hall didn't get the chance to extend his winning streak to 10 this week.

The two-furlong race in which he was entered Tuesday didn't fill, as only four others were entered. The quarter-mile dashes are carded at three-week intervals, one for male runners and one for female runners.

Pembroke Hall, a 7-year-old gelding, started his streak with a victory in his final race of 2002. He scored in all six of his starts last year and both of his starts this year. All 10 races were at two furlongs.

ELMONT, N.Y. - Larry Jones enjoyed his finest year as a trainer in 2003 thanks largely to the success of Ruby's Reception and Don'tcountessout. But those two fillies were retired and Jones wasn't sure where his next star would come from.

Enter Jim Osborne, the Internet, and a 3-year-old filly named Island Sand. In the first six months of the year, Jones has already won his first Grade 1 stakes, and now has a filly good enough to be mentioned with the best of her division.

ELMONT, N.Y. - Trainer Todd Pletcher has nominated five horses to the Grade 2, $150,000 Tom Fool Handicap on July 4 but is expected to run only Lion Tamer in that seven-furlong race. Strong Hope, who was under consideration for the Tom Fool, may simply train up to the Grade 1 Forego Handicap at Saratoga on Sept. 4.

ELMONT, N.Y. - It has been nearly two years since Macaw won a race. On Friday at Belmont Park, Macaw might have found the right spot to snap his 14-race losing streak and score his first win in this country in the third race on the twilight card.

, a winner of three races in England, is one of six grass runners entered in the optional claimer at 1 3/8 miles on the inner turf. Roaring Fever was entered main-track only. Monkey Puzzle is the only horse in the field eligible to be claimed, for $75,000.

OCEANPORT, N.J. - It has been a good week for the New Jersey Sports & Exposition Authority in its quest to lure Smarty Jones to its racetracks.

Trainer John Servis indicated New Jersey could have a shot at a Smarty double: the Grade 1, $1 million Haskell Invitational on Aug. 8 at Monmouth Park and the Pegasus Handicap on the opening weekend at The Meadowlands in early October.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Pico Central, whose three stakes wins this year in California and New York have pushed him to the forefront of the sprint division, resumed training at Hollywood Park on Wednesday, a month after he won the Metropolitan Handicap at Belmont Park.

Pico Central's return to training was postponed because of a grabbed quarter in the Met Mile, a minor injury that will prevent him from starting in the Triple Bend Breeders' Cup Handicap at Hollywood Park on July 3, trainer Paulo Lobo said.