CALGARY, Alberta - Saw Grass Sabre emerged as a leading contender for the June 19 Alberta Derby following his victory Saturday in the President's Handicap.

A Florida-bred gelding by Sword Dance, Saw Grass Sabre dueled with even-money favorite Fly Esteem through the first quarter and drew away from that rival in the run along the backstretch. Saw Grass Sabre faced no further challenges and cruised home three lengths in front of Ol Fifty, who rallied from last under Rickey Walcott over a tiring surface rated good.

ELMONT, N.Y. - Ashado, the Kentucky Oaks winner, missed a few days of training last week after contracting a fever, and will not run in the Grade 1 Acorn on June 4, trainer Todd Pletcher said Monday. Instead, Ashado will be pointed to the Grade 1, $300,000 Mother Goose Stakes here on June 26.

Pletcher said Ashado had a temperature of "101 and change" - about two degrees above normal - last Wednesday afternoon and she did not go to the track on Thursday, Friday or Saturday. Ashado was ridden under tack on Saturday, jogged on the track Sunday and galloped on Monday.

ELMONT, N.Y. - Trainer Rick Violette and owner Seth Klarman have had a busy and productive year with their 3-year-olds Read the Footnotes and Swingforthefences. On Wednesday at Belmont Park, another promising 3-year-old trained by Violette for Klarman, Bankruptcy Court, runs in the eighth race.

is one of six 3-year-olds in the race, a 1 1/16-mile allowance for nonwinners of two lifetime.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Ed Halpern, the executive director of the California Thoroughbred Trainers, has spent the last two years agonizing over the increased premiums that trainers in the state have paid for workers' compensation insurance.

As the trainer of a small stable, Halpern has had both an executive and personal view of the situation.

When Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed legislation last Thursday to increase the takeout on exotic wagers placed on California races by one-half of 1 percent to offset workers' compensation costs, Halpern breathed a sigh of relief.

Turf Paradise's 167-day live race meet closed Sunday with gains in handle and attendance at the Phoenix track.

Ontrack handle increased 2 percent for a total in-state handle rise of 5 percent. Out-of-state handle rose 4 percent, contributing to an all-sources daily average that rose 4.5 percent, from $1,718,790 in 2002-03 to $1,796,762 in 2003-04.

Ontrack attendance rose 4 percent from the previous meet.

The track will continue with simulcast-only wagering until May 28.

An early-morning fire destroyed the press box at Assiniboia Downs in Winnipeg, Manitoba, on Monday, causing damage estimated in excess of $1 million and leading to the cancellation of racing for Victoria Day weekend.

The cause of the blaze, which started around 3:30 a.m., was not immediately determined. There were no injuries, and horses stabled at the racetrack were not affected. In addition to the loss of the press facility, there was structural damage to the grandstand caused by fire and water.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Lady Tak's likely presence in Saturday's Winning Colors Handicap at Churchill Downs is apt to result in a short field. But she seemingly contributed to Wednesday's featured ninth race at Churchill Downs becoming deeper and classier than a typical weekday allowance.

Four nominees to the Winning Colors - Golden Marlin, Keiai Sakura, Souris, and Vicki Vallencourt - are entered in a talent-laden ninth race, a $63,000 money allowance race for fillies and mares at seven furlongs.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Michael McGary, the agent for jockey Dean Butler who is known as Clarence, has been barred from Churchill Downs and all its properties, allegedly because he cashed other bettors' winning tickets that required IRS paperwork.

IRS tickets, regularly called "signers" by horseplayers, require a winning bettor to furnish his/her signature, social security number, and other pertinent information to the government in a W-2G form. The IRS requires reporting of payoffs that exceed odds of more than 300-1 and pay in excess of $600.

CHICAGO - The rest of the racing world can have its Smarty Party on June 5 at Belmont Park. Chris Block is staying home.

You can't really have a horseracing conversation this week without talking about Smarty Jones, and Block was as blown away as anyone with Smarty Jones's Preakness performance. Put Block in the corner expecting a Triple Crown winner.

He could have been at Belmont to see it happen, since the Grade 1 Manhattan Handicap on the Belmont Stakes undercard is a race at least somewhat suited to Block's stable star, Mystery Giver.

SAN MATEO, Calif. - It has been quite a month for 23-year-old apprentice jockey Anne Sanguinetti.

On May 1, she graduated from Pepperdine University with a degree in economics with a minor in Spanish. The next day, she finished third aboard Dubai Dolly at Hollywood Park.

She may get her first career victory Wednesday when trainer Dennis Ward puts her aboard Lunge, a winner in all three of her starts, in a six-furlong allowance race that is the Bay Meadows feature.