VANCOUVER, British Columbia - Owner-trainer Tom Longstaff has decided to give his extraordinary 4-year-old filly Dancewithavixen another try with colts and geldings in the $45,000 John Longden 6000 at Hastings on Saturday. The 1 1/16-mile fixture drew a full field of 10 horses, including the 2003 local horse of the year, Roscoe Pito.

CALGARY, Alberta - There is quality in the 31st running of the Duchess of York at Stampede Park on Saturday, but quantity is lacking in the $40,000 allowance stakes, which attracted just three entrants from among the nine fillies and mares nominated to the 1 1/16-mile test.

The presence of Alberta's 2003 horse of the year, Raylene, undoubtedly scared away a few hopefuls, and the Duchess of York, to be run as the eighth race, will be limited to win wagering only.

AUBURN, Wash. - The Bud Klokstad-trained entry of Jumron Won and Prodigious head an accomplished field of six older horses, each eligible to be claimed for $32,000, in Saturday's one-mile feature at Emerald Downs.

Between them, the 6-year-old Jumron Won and the 7-year-old Prodigious have won 16 races and nearly $600,000, but Jumron Won will be making just his second start since 2002 and Prodigious will be starting for the first time since last September.

OCEANPORT, N.J. - The two $60,000 stakes Saturday at Monmouth Park are small in value but long in talent.

Multiple graded-stakes winner Del Mar Show headlines the Battlefield at 1 1/8 miles on the turf.

Marylebone, winner of the Grade 1 Matron at Belmont Park last fall, tops a strong entry from trainer Todd Pletcher in the Revidere for 3-year-old fillies at one mile.

Del Mar Show, 7, has posted 11 career wins, five of them graded stakes, including Grade 2 Bernard Baruch Handicap in 2002 and the Grade 2 Hialeah Turf Cup in 2001.

Country Be Gold looks to be in the right place at the right time in Saturday's $100,000 Brandywine Handicap at Delaware Park. In a field filled with horses who usually run on or near the lead, Country Be Gold is a consistent closer who appears to be coming up to his best race.

If Native Heir is ever going to win on the turf, it should happen in the $50,000 Punch Line at Colonial Downs. A five-furlong grass race for Virginia-bred or Virginia-sired horses, the Punch Line attracted a field of six, and Native Heir looks by far the fastest.

There is no doubt that Native Heir has lost a step since last year, when he won four races and $200,000. He comes off a last-place finish in a field of nine in the Grade 3 Maryland Breeders' Cup Handicap at Pimlico, but the horses he faced in that race, such as winner Gators N Bears, work fast enough to win this race.

MIAMI - If the field for Saturday's 1 1/16-mile Office Queen Stakes at Calder looks familiar, it should. Four of the seven 3-year-old fillies met in the highly competitive Castlebrook Stakes just three weeks ago. They'll square off again for a much more lucrative payday in the $100,000 Office Queen.

In the Castlebrook, Special Report outgamed Alarkandadove and American Miss, with Tiz a Dancer only two lengths behind following a rough trip. They'll be joined in the Office Queen by Adobe Gold, Coquinerie, and Ladyinareddress.

FORT ERIE, Ontario - With Woodbine saying no, the possibility of Fort Erie extending its 81-day meet beyond Labor Day is now ended.

Nick Coukos, executive director of the Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association of Ontario, had spearheaded discussions involving Woodbine as a potential host of Fort Erie races on Mondays in the fall. The plan was proposed because the final 36 days of the Fort Erie meet, originally scheduled for 117 days, were canceled to ensure ample time for a major reconstruction of the dirt track.

WINNIPEG, Manitoba - Ericka's Lass faces the only horse to defeat her as she goes for a third consecutive stakes victory in the $40,000 Chantilly for 3-year-old fillies at six furlongs Sunday at Assiniboia Downs.

Trained by Emile Corbel, Ericka's Lass began her career last June with a second-place finish behind Miz Mitzie in a maiden special weight race.

A daughter of Limit Out, Ericka's Lass won her maiden against similar company two weeks later before winning the Debutante Stakes to cap off her 2-year-old campaign.

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. - In Saturday's $75,000 Estrapade Handicap, there are 11 horses - and two camps. In the first, thoughts have turned skyward, pondering the chance of rain. The second group does not care whether the Estrapade remains at 1 1/16 miles on turf, or is transferred to 1 1/8 miles on Arlington Park's main track.

If it was difficult Thursday to come up with the Estrapade winner, it was because nobody knew on which surface it was going to be contested. Thursday's races were sloppy and off turf. Rain was forecast to continue all the way through the weekend.