BALTIMORE - Pimlico officials early on Friday canceled the Joe Aitcheson Hurdle, a Grade 1 steeplechase race, and took all the races on Friday off the turf after a powerful rain storm began soaking the Baltimore area early that morning.

The Joe Aitcheson had drawn 12 horses, and was scheduled for 2 1/8 miles over Pimlico's turf course. Mike Gathagan, Pimlico's director of communications, said that officials of the National Steeplechase Association will determine when to reschedule the race after Saturday's Preakness.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. - A late switch of jockeys on Preakness runner Ten Cents a Shine has put Hall of Fame jockey Jerry Bailey on the longshot and top California rider Patrick Valenzuela on the sidelines.

As recently as Wednesday morning, when entries were drawn, Valenzuela expected to ride Ten Cents a Shine, who finished eighth in the Kentucky Derby. But midday on Wednesday, Valenzuela's agent, Nick Cosato, was told by trainer D. Wayne Lukas that Bailey would get the mount. Bailey rode Ten Cents a Shine to a victory in an allowance race at Gulfstream Park in January.

BALTIMORE - Magic Weisner, last year's Preakness runner-up at odds of 45-1, is a little more than a month away from returning to the races, according to his owner and trainer, Nancy Alberts.

Magic Weisner had his second five-furlong breeze of the year on Sunday, covering the distance in 1:03. Alberts, who works the horse, said Magic Weisner is still "not himself yet,'' but he is improving.

BALTIMORE - Ryan Fogelsonger, the 21-year-old riding sensation and 2002 Eclipse Award-winning apprentice jockey, has a mount in nearly every race on every live racing day on the Maryland circuit. So why should the Preakness Stakes, Maryland's most famous race, be any different?

This year it won't be.

BALTIMORE - Officials have reinstated the prohibitions on what items fans can carry into the track on Friday and Saturday, citing security concerns.

Nearly identical procedures were implemented last year in the wake of the terrorist attacks in New York and Washington.

Fans will be unable to bring coolers, backpacks, or thermoses into the grandstand and clubhouse. All food and drinks must be contained in clear plastic bags or see-through plastic containers. Security officers will search everyone coming through the gates on Friday and Saturday.

ELMONT, N.Y. - The New York Racing Association has altered its recently announced policy regarding security for next month's Belmont Stakes.

Last month, NYRA announced that all horses arriving at Belmont after 3 p.m. on June 4 for the June 7 Belmont Stakes would have to be stabled in Barn 5. In addition, all Belmont Stakes starters would have to be stabled in Barn 5 by 3 p.m. Friday, June 6.

The Louisiana State Senate narrowly approved legislation Wednesday that could bring slot machines to Fair Grounds.

The passage was the first step in a long process for Fair Grounds, which has sought slots the last two years. The measure must still pass the state's House of Representatives. If it does, the matter will be put to a referendum in Orleans Parish. If the referendum passes, Fair Grounds must undergo an extensive licensing investigation by the Louisiana State Police.

SPOKANE, Wash. - Eric Nelson, the operator of Playfair Race Course, has suspended simulcast operations at the Spokane track for two weeks, calling the move a "cooling-off period."

Nelson met Monday and Tuesday with horsemen's representatives and Jack Pring, whose Appleway Leasing Corp. owns the facility, in an attempt to win concessions he says are necessary to run a successful operation at Playfair. Those concessions include a long-term contract with horsemen and a reduction in the approximately $25,000 per month rent he pays Appleway.

BALTIMORE - Owner Michael Gill will shoot for a trifecta in the Maryland Breeders' Cup Handicap on Saturday at Pimlico, sending out two speed horses and one deep closer for a chance to take down a $200,000 purse and a Grade 3 race.

Gill's three-horse attack will be challenged in the six-furlong dirt sprint by five other horses, including a two-horse entry from trainer Ben Feliciano Jr. - the classy Sassy Hound and the speedy highweight Crossing Point.

Sassy Hound and Crossing Point are cross-entered in the Waterford Park Handicap at Mountaineer Park on Saturday.

When he's not watching the races, trainer Pat Kelly is viewing the Weather Channel. He will certainly be glued to the all-weather station during the hours leading up to Saturday's Grade 3, $100,000 Gallorette Handicap at Pimlico.

Riskaverse, who last fall won the Grade 1 Queen Elizabeth at Keeneland, is the headliner of a 14-horse field entered in the Gallorette, run at 1 1/16 miles on the Pimlico turf. But Kelly is not certain he will send Riskaverse to Baltimore for the race.