Mr. Jester and Joe Six Pack are two sons of Silver Deputy who bring widely different strengths into Saturday night's $100,000 Jean Lafitte, a one-mile race for 2-year-olds at Delta Downs that serves as a prep for the track's $1 million Delta Jackpot on Dec. 5.

Mr. Jester is the only horse in the field of six proven around two turns, while the undefeated Joe Six Pack owns the race's highest Beyer Speed Figure (100). They head a field that also contains Roundabout Jones, Depop, Ante Up Pete, and Vic Mason.

STICKNEY, Ill. - Early Wednesday evening trainer Tony Mitchell delivered news his rivals hoped they wouldn't hear: Summer Mis will run in the Powerless Handicap.

Mitchell and owner Richard Otto toyed with the idea of skipping the Powerless and saving Summer Mis for the Grade 2 Top Flight later this month at Aqueduct. A hefty 127-pound weight assignment for Saturday's statebred sprint fueled the notion that Summer Mis would pass.

Blue Ribbon Downs in Sallisaw, Okla., must end its meet two weeks earlier than expected because the licensing process for its new owner, Backstretch LLC, cannot be completed before the meet's scheduled closing, Nov. 23.

The track will run five trial races on both Saturday and Sunday, but the races will be exhibitions, with no parimutuel wagering. There will also be no simulcast wagering at Blue Ribbon.

MIAMI - Trainer Kathleen O'Connell has been pointing Ivanavinalot for a turf campaign since the Grade 2 winner returned to training after an early-summer vacation. And Saturday's $35,000-added Razzle Dazzle Stakes appeared to be the perfect spot to give Ivanavinalot her first test over the new surface.

As a teenager more than 30 years ago, Nick Sanna worked odd jobs at Delaware Park, selling tip sheets and sweeping the grandstand after the races.

"I used to say, 'One of these days maybe I could be one these guys racing horses,' " Sanna recalled.

In 1999, Sanna's dream came true when he bought a couple of racehorses. The initial results were modest as Sanna's horses won no more than one or two races a year.

Musical Vision, a distant second in the Maryland Million Nursery in his first race over the track, could be primed for a peak effort in Saturday's $60,000 Rollicking, a seven-furlong stakes at Laurel Park.

Trained by Anthony Dutrow, Musical Vision passed four horses in the last three furlongs of the seven-furlong Maryland Million Nursery to finish second, beaten nine lengths by Polish Rifle on Oct. 11. He has worked twice since then for Dutrow, a trainer who excels with horses making their second start off a layoff.

FORT ERIE, Ontario - Trainer Rod Cone was as surprised as anyone when his runner Shards of Silver won the eighth race here Tuesday and paid $21.60.

The race, a starter allowance for runners who have competed for $14,000 or less since the end of 2001, was run at two miles and 70 yards, the longest distance on the Ontario circuit.

Cone had no intention of entering Shards of Silver in the race but changed his mind when Fort Erie director of racing Herb McGirr made a plea for additional entries. The marathon has become a tradition at Fort Erie.

That Tat and Doctor Mike, who have been rivals for the past two meets at Louisiana Downs, will face each other for the final time this meeting in Sunday's $40,000 Island Whirl Handicap.

Doctor Mike won the seven-furlong Island Whirl by 1 1/2 lengths over That Tat a year ago, but That Tat had the upper hand in their most recent stakes meeting, when he won the $50,000 Folklore, at 6 1/2 furlongs, by a 1 3/4 lengths over Doctor Mike.

Medium Rare will have to get more distance Saturday night in order to defend his title in the $35,000 Autumn Classic at Remington Park. The statebred stakes has been lengthened from six furlongs to seven this year, and the new distance has helped the race draw a diverse mix of sprinters and route horses, including George Taylor, winner of the $75,000 Oklahoma Classics Day Classic, and Dusty Spike, winner of the $100,000 Omaha Handicap.

There appears to be no shortage of speed Saturday night in the $35,000 Katy, a seven furlong race for 2-year-olds at Sam Houston Race Park that is headed by Appealing Secret.

In his last start, Appealing Secret captured a $50,000 optional claimer by 8 3/4 lengths over Depop, who is to run in the $100,000 Jean Lafitte on Saturday night at Delta Downs. Appealing Secret is owned and trained by Steve Asmussen, who has given the mount to Jeremy Beasley.