The Churchill Downs press box, which is scheduled to be ready for the 2005 Kentucky Derby, will be named "The Joe Hirsch Media Center" in honor of Daily Racing Form's longtime executive columnist, the track announced Friday.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Earlier this week, the $250,000 on Saturday was shaping up as a clash between high-profile stakes winners The Tin Man and Megahertz.

Neither was entered on Thursday. The Tin Man injured an ankle and is unlikely to start until next year. Trainer Bobby Frankel had second thoughts about paying $15,000 to supplement and start the 4-year-old Megahertz against males. She will be pointed for the Dahlia Handicap on Dec. 20.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. - The Tin Man, fourth in the Breeders' Cup Turf last month, was not entered for Saturday's $250,000 Hollywood Turf Cup after he was found to have suffered an ankle injury Thursday, trainer Richard Mandella said.

The Tin Man was expected to be a strong favorite in the Grade 1 Turf Cup.

Mandella said The Tin Man "wrenched an ankle" but X-rays showed no damage.

"It's a little tender," Mandella said. "It's just a little setback."

OZONE PARK, N.Y. - It stopped raining in New York at 10 a.m. Thursday, and two hours later the sun burst through the clouds, giving racing officials hope that Saturday's Grade 2, $150,000 Red Smith Handicap would remain on the turf.

Pity, too. It was shaping up as a more intriguing race on dirt, with Evening Attire and Snake Mountain prepared to square off.

Instead, handicappers must decipher the inconsistent form of 12 runners whose combined record in 2003 is 12 for 89. The Red Smith, run at 1 3/8 miles, is the last turf stakes scheduled in New York this year.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The last time trainer Pat Kelly shipped Riskaverse to Kentucky, she went home with all the money. On Saturday, more than 13 months after hitting that career pinnacle, the New York-based Riskaverse will be back in town as part of a terrific field of fillies and mares in the $150,000 at Churchill Downs.

Riskaverse is one of a handful of major contenders in the 30th running of the Grade 3 Cardinal, a 1 1/8-mile turf race in which Bien Nicole will start as the 120-pound highweight. Riskaverse, with 118 pounds, is second on the weights list.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Trainer Jake Nemett's two stable stars, Kabul and El Gran Maestro, have accumulated six second-place finishes between them in stakes at Woodbine this year. El Gran Maestro will try to get Nemett his first stakes victory of the meeting Saturday in the $128,500 Sir Barton, a 1 1/16-mile race for Ontario-sired 3-year-olds.

ALBANY, Calif. - Five 2-year-old fillies will each seek her initial stakes victory Saturday in the $60,000-added Piedmont Stakes at Golden Gate Fields.

Most eyes will be on undefeated Wildwood Flower, a half-sister to stakes winner Eye of the Tiger who is seeking her third straight victory.

VANCOUVER, British Columbia - With a long-distance Tomlinson rating of 397, Amarillo Star should be able handle the 1 3/8 miles of the seventh race at Hastings, a $6,000 optional claimer/starter allowance for 3-year-olds and up. It's a bit surprising that, up until now, his trainer and part-owner, Alex Murray, hasn't tried Amarillo Star at a distance longer than 1 1/8 miles.

PORTLAND, Ore. - Americas Pride will head a field of nine 3-year-old fillies in Saturday's $10,000 Lassie Stakes at six furlongs.

The Lassie, the eighth of 10 live races, will share top billing with the $6,000-added Portland Meadows Fall Derby Finals for 3-year-old Quarter Horses going 440 yards, which will go as the nightcap with 11 contestants.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. - By mid-morning Thursday, trainer Pat Kelly was resigned to fact that lightning would not strike for the second consecutive year.

A year ago, Kelly entered Evening Attire as a main-track-only entrant in the Grade 2 Red Smith, scheduled for 1 3/8 miles on turf. The race was moved to the dirt and Evening Attire galloped to an eight-length victory.