NEW ORLEANS - Dynamic Lady was born in Kentucky and has spent much of her racetrack life in New York, but the place she really wants to be is New Orleans.

At Fair Grounds last season, Dynamic Lady's form reached heights not seen before or since, and after a lost summer, she has picked up the pace of her training since shipping here early in November. Thursday, in the featured ninth race, she returns to action, facing just six opponents in a third-level grass allowance. The race, contested at about 1 1/16 miles, also offers a $62,500 claiming option.

Although Ozzie Cat is winless in 2003, he should appreciate some class relief in Thursday's $44,000 feature at Aqueduct. Trained by D. Wayne Lukas, Ozzie Cat has knocked heads with such 3-year-old stalwarts as Ten Most Wanted, Trust N Luck, and Cajun Beat this year, and he raced very wide when the beaten favorite in a Churchill Downs allowance last month.

ALBANY, Calif. - Trainer Brian Pitnick isn't ashamed of the tears that flowed down his cheeks in the Golden Gate Fields winner's circle Saturday.

Very few who know the story of Graceful Stepper would have had a dry eye after her victory in an $8,000 maiden race.

She wasn't supposed to win a six-furlong race in wire-to-wire fashion in a faster time than $25,000 winners ran three races earlier. She probably wasn't supposed to be at the racetrack at all after having broken a leg during training in 2002.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Illness or injury kept four jockeys out of action at Hollywood Park over the weekend, including leading rider Julie Krone, whose participation in the major 2-year-old stakes of the upcoming weekend is uncertain.

Krone, Ryan Fogelsonger, and David Nuesch were sidelined by injuries on Friday, while Patrick Valenzuela missed all of last week because of flu.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. - After finishing a well-beaten third in the Grade 2 Remsen on Nov. 29, West Virginia finds a more likely spot to earn the second stakes win of his career in Wednesday's $75,000-added Damon Runyon at Aqueduct.

The Damon Runyon was scheduled for Sunday but was postponed that morning when track officials decided to cancel the program because of a snowstorm.

West Virginia will be favored among 10 New York-bred 2-year-olds entered in the 1 1/16-mile Damon Runyon.

West Virginia and Rb's Glitter are the only stakes winners in the field.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Petionville Indeed, a stakes winner in Texas in July, will make her fifth consecutive start on a different turf course this week at Hollywood Park.

As of Sunday, owner Jeff Nielsen and trainer Marcel Polanco had not decided if she would start in an allowance race on Wednesday or Saturday's $150,000 Dahlia Handicap.

They were expected to reach a decision before scratch time on Tuesday for Wednesday's race.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. - John Servis saddled two stakes winners at Aqueduct last week, Stephan's Angel in the Mom's Command and Balmy in the Garland of Roses, and the trainer's work in New York isn't done yet. Servis plans on running Smarty Jones, a 2-year-old colt he is very high on, in the $75,000 Count Fleet Stakes on Jan. 3.

Because of an oversight by officials at Delta Downs, Mr. Jester carried two fewer pounds than he should have under the conditions of the race in his victory in the $1 million Delta Jackpot for 2-year-olds on Dec. 5.

Mr. Jester won the 1 1/16-mile race under the weight he was assigned, 115 pounds, but he should have carried 117.

"It was missed," said Chris Warren, director of racing and simulcasting at Delta, in Vinton, La.

Daryl Wells, Woodbine's race caller from 1956 to 1986, died on Friday night of heart disease, He was 81.

Wells, who lived in Lewiston, N.Y., was a native of Victoria, British Columbia. In the 1940's, he moved to Hamilton, Ontario, where he worked in television and radio until Woodbine opened in 1956. His most famous call was the 1973 Canadian International, which was won by the great Secretariat in the final start of his career.

Wells is survived by his wife, Marian, and children Wendy, Dana, and Daryl Jr., who is the race caller at Fort Erie.

SUNLAND PARK, N.M. - Ciento capped off a stellar season with a dramatic late run to win the second running of the $125,000-added Johnie L. Jamison Handicap at Sunland Park.