ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Wando, winner of the Canadian Triple Crown and more than $2 million this year, heads the list of 2003 Sovereign Award finalists released by the Jockey Club of Canada on Wednesday.

The Sovereign Awards, which are the Canadian counterpart to the Eclipse Awards, honor outstanding achievement Thoroughbred racing and breeding.

The finalists, in each of 15 divisions, were determined by ballots of 58 voters across Canada, who ranked their top three choices in each category with points awarded on a 4-2-1 basis.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Hugo Dittfach was no stranger to the spotlight during a riding career that came to an end, by design, when he rode his 4,000th career winner in 1989 at Greenwood.

Dittfach, who won the inaugural Sovereign Award as Canada's outstanding jockey for 1975, was inducted into the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame in 1983, and was the recipient of the Avelino Gomez Memorial Award in 1991, has kept a much lower profile since turning his attention to training in 1990.

PORTLAND, Ore. - Lethal Grande, the probable favorite for Friday's $10,000 Thanksgiving Handicap at a mile, has demonstrated a good deal of versatility during a 38-race career in which he was won eight races and over $128,000. He has won in Oregon and California, on dirt and turf, and from on the lead and far off the pace.

A 4-year-old, Lethal Grande needs one more accomplishment, however, to complete his resume.

"He has never won around two turns," said trainer G. D. Khalsa. "In fact, he has never won beyond six furlongs."

SUNLAND PARK, N.M. - Bugsy Marrone ships in from Turf Paradise with a five-race win streak to take on 11 other 2-year-old fillies in the $50,000-added Princess Handicap at Sunland Park on Friday.

Bugsy Marrone has traveled before. She made the first two starts of her career at Santa Anita last spring, both at two furlongs against Cal-breds, and won her second start. She has not been behind at any call in her four races since, while running several sub-45-second half-miles in the process.

Brimmerton, a highly hyped juvenile in Texas, will try to live up to his ink by gaining his first stakes win in the Grade 1, $1,088,856 Texas Classic Futurity on Saturday night at Lone Star Park.

Family Favorite invades from Florida for Friday night's $40,000 Delta Belle at Delta Downs in Vinton, La.

The five-furlong race for 2-year-old fillies drew a field of six, and there does not appear to be a standout among them. Favoritism Could go to maiden winner My Golden Tripp, who will be making her first start for trainer Steve Asmussen.

ANDERSON, Ind. - Down by the Sea and Victory Punch, who have finished one-two in their last two meetings, will be separated by an entire race Friday night. This is the final full week of racing this meet, which concludes Dec. 4.

Down by the Sea will start in the $35,000-added Indiana Stallion Stakes, a six-furlong race for 2-year-old Indiana-bred fillies who were sired by registered Indiana stallions. Victory Punch will stretch out to a mile for the first time in the following race, the $35,000-added Terre Haute Stakes for Indiana-bred fillies.

Rockchalk Jayhawk, who won the $35,000 Remington Green on turf by disqualification in his last start, will move back to the main track Saturday night at Remington in the $18,500 Tip Tap, a 1 1/16-mile overnight handicap. As the 123-pound highweight, he will spot his rivals four to 11 pounds. Don Pettinger has the mount for trainer Donnie Von Hemel.

Remington will close out its meet Sunday with the $75,000 MEC Mile for 2-year-olds. In addition to the purse, the winner will receive an all-fees-paid berth into the 2004 Oklahoma Derby.

NEW ORLEANS - Horses began arriving at Fair Grounds for the winter on Nov. 1. The track's aging blue barns, tucked between a cemetery and historic Gentilly Boulevard, have steadily filled, the sounds of morning training flowing into the surrounding neighborhoods again, as they do every fall.

But this is a different kind of season at Fair Grounds, one fraught with skepticism and uncertainty. There are few answers floating about, but many questions.

* In what state will Fair Grounds emerge from Chapter 11 bankruptcy, for which it filed earlier this year?

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Two years ago, it was Belterra. Last year, it was Allamerican Bertie. This year, in what figures to be her third and final appearance at Churchill Downs on Thanksgiving weekend, Take Charge Lady might finally be able to turn back all challengers and secure a well-earned spot at the head of the proverbial table.