ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Miss Grindstone will attempt to stretch her speed out around two turns on Thursday at Woodbine, in a $62,500 claimer for fillies and mares.

AUBURN, Wash. - Three of the sharpest runners on the grounds will tangle in Thursday's top offering at Emerald Downs, a six-furlong sprint for older horses eligible to be claimed for $20,000 to $18,000.

Sidekick, Melcapwalker, and Persee Joe have been on a tear at this meeting - Sidekick winning four of five starts, Melcapwalker winning his last three, and Persee Joe winning his last two and being claimed out of both starts.

Beau's Town, who won the Grade 2, $200,000 Bing Crosby at Del Mar on Saturday, probably will not race again until the Breeders' Cup Sprint on Oct. 25, said his trainer, Cole Norman.

Beau's Town will spend the next three weeks "winding down" at a Southern California farm, Norman said, then will be flown back to his Louisiana Downs base to begin serious preparations for the Breeders' Cup.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Trainer Frank Alexander looked over the past performances for Thursday's $51,000 allowance feature at Saratoga to assess his chances with Dynamite Miss, and wrinkled his brow.

"You come up here thinking you've got a pretty good chance going into a three-other-than allowance race, and catch a field like this," Alexander lamented. "You've got Bobby Frankel coming off a layoff with a horse that was third in a Grade 3 race, Bill Mott with another filly who has been stakes placed in graded races a few times, and a couple of others who can run."

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Jumping from a first-level allowance race into a Grade 2 stakes like the Jim Dandy is an ambitious undertaking. But after watching Tafaseel work five furlongs in 59.20 seconds under regular rider Richard Migliore here Tuesday morning, trainer Kiaran McLaughlin said he is looking forward to the challenge.

DEL MAR, Calif. - Danthebluegrassman is breathing easier. After faltering badly in four straight races last year, he had surgery performed to treat a paralyzed flap. He was given more than seven months off, but since returning, he has finally started to run like the colt trainer Bob Baffert thought worthy of entering at the last minute in the 2002 Kentucky Derby.

CHICAGO - "If they let our horse get an easy lead, they'll have trouble catching him."

That was the word from trainer Frank "Bobby" Springer during the run-up up to the June 21 Cardinal Handicap, the 1 1/16-mile Arlington turf stakes that is part of the Prairie State Festival for Illinois-breds.

DEL MAR, Calif. - It could be ladies first, as well as second and third, in Thursday's featured seventh race at Del Mar, in which trainers Laura de Seroux, Carla Gaines, and Kristin Mulhall have three of the top contenders.

The de Seroux-trained Little Treasure, an unlucky loser of the Grade 3 Royal Heroine Stakes at Hollywood Park on July 5, could be a tepid favorite against six rivals in the one-mile grass race, a money-allowance for older fillies and mares.

OCEANPORT, N.J. - A healthy and motivated Jose Ferrer continues to enjoy a career revival at Monmouth Park.

Ferrer, 39, has seemingly turned back the clock almost a decade to when he perennially ranked among the Monmouth leaders.

His stock has dipped in recent seasons, but Ferrer has come roaring back.

Ferrer won four races Sunday to cement his standing as the No. 2 rider here behind Joe Bravo. He hasn't conceded the title, now that he rides first call for Michael Gill, the meet's leading owner, and Linda Rice, one of the top-percentage trainers.

SANTA ROSA, Calif. - Jim's Relaunch and Taraval were both entered for the same reason in Thursday's $40,000-added Ernest Finley Handicap at the Sonoma County Fair: In a field of five, they are assured of picking up a check.

John Wilkes, trainer of Jim's Relaunch, and Greg Gilchrist, trainer of Taraval, both say they have no other place to run.

Wilkes has no illusions about winning the six-furlong Ernest Finley.