No, it's not some sort of unofficial farewell tour. Jockey Richard Migliore was honored with the Mike Venezia Award last month and was invited to participate for the first time Friday in the All-Star Jockey Challenge at Lone Star Park in Grand Prairie, Texas.

What next, the George Woolf Award?

"That'd be nice to top things off, wouldn't it?" Migliore said Wednesday from Belmont Park in Elmont, N.Y. "Actually, I hope it's not a farewell tour. I'd like to think I've got a few good years left in me."

ELMONT, N.Y. - And you thought the winter was bad.

After a cold, snowy winter, the weather has not gotten any better this spring in New York, which has negatively affected the current Belmont meeting. Since the meet opened on May 7, Belmont has absorbed 14.45 inches of rain, including another 1.10 inches that fell Wednesday.

ELMONT, N.Y. - In a departure from previous years, Godolphin Racing has not rushed its top 3-year-old prospects into North American Grade 1 races.

Inamorato, Godolphin's top 3-year-old colt, was held out of the Kentucky Derby and made his North American debut Belmont Stakes Day. Danuta, Godolphin's top 3-year-old filly, was held out of the Kentucky Oaks and is slated to make her return to North American racing Friday at Belmont Park in a third-level allowance race at one mile.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. - The second half of the 3-year-old season starts Sunday for Eye of the Tiger and Outta Here, who finished fifth and seventh in the Kentucky Derby last month.

Neither colt ran in the Preakness or Belmont Stakes, but they remain top contenders in Sunday's $100,000 Affirmed Handicap over 1 1/16 miles at Hollywood Park. While they were considered accomplished enough to start in the Kentucky Derby, both are seeking their first graded stakes win in the Grade 3 Affirmed.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Roberta's Mango risks a three-race winning streak in a $75,000 allowance race for female turf sprinters at Hollywood Park Friday, and trainer Julio Canani is confident she can handle the toughest opposition she has faced.

Canani's opinion stems from Roberta's Mango's results this year - three wins in four starts, all in turf sprints.

"She's doing unbelievably," Canani said. "She just took to the grass and doesn't want to get beat."

AUBURN, Wash. - Melcapwalker shoots for a third consecutive win when he takes on seven challengers in Friday's top offering, a 1 1/16-mile race for older runners eligible to be claimed for $16,000 to $14,000.

EDMONTON, Alberta - The summer Thoroughbred meet opens on Friday, with an eight-race program which attracted 69 entrants.

The opening-day headliner, a 6 1/2-furlong sprint for $22,000 claimers, features a rematch between Dublin's Woodwin and Timboruck, who finished one-two in a six-furlong race at the same level at Stampede Park last time out.

Dublin's Woodwin will break from post 1 in the field of six with Calgary's leading rider, Quincy Welch, in the irons. Dave Wilson, runner-up in the Stampede standings, will break Timboruck from post 2.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Arco's Gold put the finishing touches on his Queen's Plate preparations here Wednesday, breezing three furlongs in 38.60 seconds on the training track.

Trained by John Ross, Arco's Gold will be making just his second start of the year in Sunday's $1 million Queen's Plate, a 1 1/4-mile race for Canadian-bred 3-year-olds.

"I know I'm repeating myself, but I wish I had one more race under his belt," Ross said. "I've just had to do the best I can to get him there the best I can."

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Mike Bell was tired of the racetrack grind, so he did what most trainers only threaten to do: He left. Bell escaped for nearly two years to the quiet environs of rural South Carolina, where he worked with yearlings and 2-year-olds while regenerating his enthusiasm for the racing game.

EAST BOSTON, Mass. - Twelve horses were entered in Saturday's $200,000 James B. Moseley Breeders' Cup Handicap at Suffolk Downs, making it one of the most competitive stakes races in New England in years.

With the Massachusetts Handicap canceled this year, the Moseley is by far the year's richest Thoroughbred race in New England.