SAN MATEO, Calif. - Aly Bubba was the proverbial gleam in his father's eye when Native Desert scored a victory in the California Turf Championship at Bay Meadows in 1998.

Since that first victory, Native Desert has won the race twice more, in 2000 and 2001 - the latter a dead heat with Spinelessjellyfish. Native Desert also ran second to Del Mar Gray in 1999, the year Aly Bubba was foaled.

On Monday, the up-and-coming 4-year-old and the 10-year-old millionaire will compete in the 2003 version of the $100,000, one-mile turf race for Cal-breds.

Since he left the Pacific Northwest with an unbeaten record in the late spring of 2002, Meteoric has starred in the trials for several major Quarter Horse futurities and derbies.

The finals have been a different matter.

Meteoric finished third in the 2002 All American, second in the Los Alamitos Million, and missed the Golden State Futurity because of illness. This summer, he finished a troubled sixth in the Rainbow Derby at Ruidoso Downs.

A year of frustration in big races can end in Sunday's $694,646 All American Derby at Ruidoso Downs.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Is Sunday's Seaway Stakes too much, too soon for Too Late Now?

Too Late Now, who finished 10th in the Ontario Colleen Stakes here last Sunday, is back in the entries one week later, slated to face nine opponents in the Seaway.

After trying turf for the first time in the one-mile Ontario Colleen, Too Late Now will be making her debut against older fillies and mares as one of two 3-year-olds in the seven-furlong Seaway.

WINNIPEG, Manitoba - The $30,000 North Dakota Futurity will be run here on Sunday with only three entrants and as a non-betting race.

Restricted to 2-year-olds eligible through the North Dakota Thoroughbred Association, the Futurity will be run before the live betting card, at approximately 12:40 p.m.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Some of the greatest moments in this country's Thoroughbred racing history were celebrated Thursday evening when He's a Smoothie, Carotene, and trainer Roy Johnson were inducted into the Canadian Thoroughbred Horse Racing Hall of Fame.

A crowd of about 400 gathered at the Toronto Congress Centre, located close to Woodbine, to honor the 2003 inductees.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - The Bob Tiller-trained duo of Brass in Pocket and Winter Garden both have a shot in Sunday's $140,375 Seaway Stakes, a seven-furlong dash that drew a high-quality field of 10 fillies and mares.

After prospering as a front-running router in 2002, Brass in Pocket has established herself as one of the leading female sprinters at Woodbine this year. She has won three stakes in just four starts, while using a variety of running styles.

EDMONTON, Alberta - Sharp purse increases as a result of revenue from more than 500 slots at Northlands translated into an encouraging boost for the annual Alberta yearling sale here last Sunday.

"There is no question that the substantially larger purses have been a boon to our sale," said Rennie Gellner, manager of the Alberta division of the Canadian Thoroughbred Horse Society. "It resulted in considerably more action in the $12,000 to $15,000 range this year, especially after the disastrous drought of a year ago."

VANCOUVER, British Columbia - If Vegas Folly comes close to repeating her last race she will be very tough to beat in Sunday's Hastings feature, a $25,000 claiming race for 3-year-old fillies going 1 1/16 miles. Six others have been entered, including Win for Avie, who is looking for her fourth straight win.

AUBURN, Wash. - Sala De Oro will head a field of seven 2-year-old fillies in Sunday's $70,000 Barbara Shinpoch Stakes at Emerald Downs.

The one-mile Shinpoch, which honors the former racing commission chair who guided Washington's search for a new track after the closure of Longacres, is Emerald's top offering for 2-year-old fillies.

VANCOUVER, British Columbia - There's just three weeks to go before they spring the latch in the Grade 1, $250,000 British Columbia Derby. Last year the winner of the most prestigious race in the province, Cruising Kat, could have been claimed for $35,000 just two weeks before pulling off one of the biggest upsets in the history of the race.