LEXINGTON, Ky. - Snow Dance has had a terrific career in middle-distance turf races, winning several graded stakes and $938,597. But with no more than two races left in her career, trainer John T. Ward Jr. will try something different by running her Sunday in the $150,000 Rood and Riddle Dowager Stakes, a 1 1/2-mile turf race at Keeneland.

"Three turns," said Ward. "I think she'll probably run real well. There just weren't a whole lot of opportunities left for her. She's shown her ability to go long and kind of relax now."

ELMONT, N.Y. - With a record of 2 for 2 on the grass, Artie Schiller takes his game to the next level in Sunday's $75,000 Pilgrim Stakes at Belmont Park.

Artie Schiller meets eight other 2-year-old males in the 1 1/8-mile Pilgrim, which will be run on the inner turf course.

ARCADIA, Calif. - Wind Flow's trainer, Caesar Dominguez, evaluated the competition that his filly trounced in the $48,000 Bustles and Bows Stakes last month at Fairplex Park. "I hate to say this," Dominguez said, "but she was running against $40,000 fillies. Even though it was a stakes race, it was a weak stakes race."

ELMONT, N.Y. - Joe Hampshire Jr., the king of the New England jockey colony, will ride in New York this winter.

With no Thoroughbred racing scheduled in Massachusetts during the winter, Hampshire has decided to start riding at Aqueduct when the fall meet opens on Oct. 29. The last time Hampshire, 39, had a mount in New York was 1988.

Max Hall, Hampshire's agent, was at Belmont Park on Friday morning, announcing his rider's imminent arrival.

LEXINGTON, Ky. - Different day, same result. Jockey Robby Albarado, riding Joe's Son Joey, came from midpack on Friday to win the $84,525 Woodford County Stakes at Keeneland in a virtual replay of what occurred the previous day, when Albarado urged On the Fritz to victory in the Clark County Stakes.

STICKNEY, Ill. - The trainer Pat Cuccurullo has ridden racing's roller coaster before. Most of this year he was in a trough. Now, the thrill is back.

Cuccurullo came into the Hawthorne meet with eight wins from 126 starters this year, but after Tuxson scored in the first race Friday, Cuccurullo had won five times with just 13 starters, making him a top-tier trainer so far at this meet.

Vals Fortune, a Quarter Horse who has won his last eight starts, can earn a $500,000 bonus Sunday by winning the Grade 1, $232,242 Louisiana Quarter Horse Breeders' Association Futurity at Louisiana Downs in Bossier City, La.

Vals Fortune won the first leg of the bonus series, the Grade 2 Mardi Gras Futurity at Fair Grounds on March 20. Four months later he captured the second leg, the Grade 1 LQHBA Sales Futurity, at Louisiana Downs on Aug. 17.

In his most recent start, he won a trial for the final leg by a neck in his first start at 400 yards.

Blue Ribbon Downs, a small track in Sallisaw, Okla., is scheduled to be auctioned at the Sallisaw courthouse on Nov. 4, but that could change if the State Supreme Court grants a request by the track to stop the sale. Blue Ribbon's case was heard this week, and a decision is pending.

ANDERSON, Ind. - Mr. Mink faces the stiffest challenge of his career when he meets Red's Honor and nine other older Indiana-breds in the $35,000-added Brickyard Stakes at six furlongs on Sunday.

Mr. Mink, a 3-year-old trained by Michael Nance, won both his local starts this year. His last win came in the Fort Wayne Stakes when he went gate to wire to score by five lengths in 1:10.93, one of the fastest clockings of the season.

Mr. Mink will be coupled with Donnies Pick. Tommy Pompell was named on both.

Maysville Slew cuts back in distance Sunday for the $35,000 Brother Brown at Remington Park. A five-furlong turf race, the Brother Brown could serve as his springboard to the Grade 3, $150,000 River City at 1 1/8 miles on turf at Churchill Downs on Nov. 16.

There are 10 others in the Brother Brown, including top contenders Jeb's Honor, April's Lucky Boy, Abbi's Choice, and Caro's Royalty.