AUBURN, Wash. - The Washington Horse Racing Commission voted Thursday to suspend rather cancel the license granted to Eric Nelson, the would-be operator of Playfair Race Course in Spokane, Wash.

Nelson, a Las Vegas-based developer, had earlier announced that he would not run a live meeting this year at Playfair, and in a letter dated June 4 he asked the racing commission to rescind his license. Instead, the commission voted to suspend the license in order to maintain its regulatory authority over Playfair until outstanding issues are resolved.

WINNIPEG, Manitoba - Saturday's first running of the $35,000 La Verendrye at six furlongs looks like a rematch between Briara and Regal Heir, but that didn't stop 11 other fillies and mares from being entered.

One of those 11 rivals, double stakes winner Top Stage Dancer, was excluded from the race due to lack of earnings in 2003, which resulted in a protest from trainer Wendy Anderson for owner Rosemarie Zilkowski. Top Stage Dancer was placed on the also-eligible list for the race, something that hasn't been seen here in years.

FORT ERIE, Ontario - Le Cinquieme Essai, the Fort Erie-based runner who won last year's Prince of Wales and was Canada's champion 3-year-old, will start next in the $300,000 King Edward Breeders' Cup at Woodbine Sunday.

The Grade 2, 1 1/8-mile turf race will be Le Cinquieme Essai's second start of the year.

Le Cinquieme Essai finished out of the money May 24 in Woodbine's Connaught Cup, a 1 1/16-mile turf race, dueling for the lead until midstretch before giving way.

"Basically, I ran a short horse," said trainer Paul Nielsen.

Horseplayers may have to hit the "all" button in the second leg of Saturday's NTRA Summer Pick Three in order to be assured of holding a live ticket.

The $250,000 Leonard Richards, a Grade 3 stakes race at 1 1/16 miles for 3-year-olds at Delaware Park, is a handicapping challenge for a couple of reasons. There's a big field of 10 and a fine line separating more than a half-dozen contenders.

EAST BOSTON, Mass. - When the year started, this was supposed to be the week of the Massachusetts Handicap - a time when Suffolk Downs goes full bore after national attention. With the Mass 'Cap on hiatus for this year, next Saturday's $200,000 James B. Moseley Breeders' Cup Handicap is the big race of the meet.

Even without the Mass 'Cap, next Saturday still will be the richest single day in New England racing this year, and a strong group of sprints is pointing to the six-furlong Moseley.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - He's a Smoothie and Carotene, who performed with distinction both in Ontario and in the United States, on Thursday were named as inductees to the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame.

Trainer Roy Johnson and owner-breeder Frank Selke Jr. were also elected by the Hall of Fame voters, who had been asked to select two horses and two people from the list of candidates.

The late Jim Proudfoot, an editor and longtime sports columnist at the Toronto Star, will be inducted in the veteran's category as the unanimous choice of a nine-member committee.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Maybe it's the extra furlong. Maybe it's the extra turn. Maybe it's both. The difference separating a miler from a route horse can sometimes be interpreted as simple, but on occasion, the boundaries are not so clearly defined.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - With trainer Ken McPeek announcing Wednesday that Take Charge Lady has been declared out of the prospective lineup, the Fleur de Lis Handicap suddenly has taken on the same kind of look as the race You won earlier at the Churchill Downs meet.

ELMONT, N.Y. - The talent is obviously there, but Iron Deputy has had few opportunities to flaunt it in the past year and a half.

Iron Deputy, a 4-year-old, began his career in September 2001 and won three of his first four starts, including the Huntington and Count Fleet stakes at Aqueduct.

After such a promising start, everything went downhill for Iron Deputy. A minor leg fracture, an incident in last year's Jim Dandy at Saratoga, and a pesky quarter crack have given Iron Deputy the label of a hard-luck horse.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. - For the second time in the last 18 months, Sky Jack is ready to resume racing after a layoff caused by a knee injury.

In Friday's fifth race at Hollywood Park, Sky Jack returns from an eight-month break caused by an injury to his problematic right knee to start in a $62,000 optional claimer at 1 1/16 miles on turf.

In early 2002, Sky Jack rebounded from an injury to his right knee and a severe bout with colic to have a successful campaign, highlighted by a win in the $750,000 Hollywood Gold Cup.