AUBURN, Wash. - Sullivanitis looks to be the one to beat when he squares off against seven other $25,000 claimers in Saturday's six-furlong feature at Emerald Downs.

Sullivanitis, a 5-year-old son of Skywalker who races for Dunn Bar Ranch, is coming off a six-race campaign in Southern California that netted a second and a third, both on the $62,500 claiming level. The Tim McCanna-trained Sullivanitis has four wins from 10 starts at Emerald Downs, and will be starting at a career-low level on Saturday.

Leading rider Kevin Radke has the mount at 119 pounds.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. - King Robyn will continue life as a sprinter for the foreseeable future after winning his second consecutive stakes in Wednesday's $82,200 Harry Henson Stakes at Hollywood Park.

Returning a month after winning the San Pedro Stakes over 6 1/2 furlongs on dirt at Santa Anita, King Robyn justified his role as a heavy favorite with a three-length win in the Henson.

When Delaware Park opens its 142-day meet Saturday, Mike McCarthy will be there as usual. But instead of riding horses, as McCarthy did as the track's leading jockey in six of the last seven years, he's now training them.

McCarthy, 39, who retired from riding at the conclusion of Delaware's 2002 meet last fall, is starting out slowly. He has 10 horses stabled on the grounds, including Sir Ray, a 3-year-old who will run in the eighth race on Sunday's program. So far, McCarthy has won three races and finished second four times from 30 starters, all but one at Gulfstream Park.

VANCOUVER, British Columbia - Live racing begins Saturday at Hastings Park, and an excellent field of older sprinters headlines the eight-race card.

Because of a horse shortage in the province, Hastings will race only on weekends and holidays this year. The plan is to run at least 12 races a day, but because of an extremely wet spring with only one track labeled fast since the clockers started timing workouts on March 9, many horses just aren't ready to run.

VANCOUVER, British Columbia - With horses leaving to run for slot-fueled purses in other jurisdictions across Canada, horse racing is at a crossroads in British Columbia.

A report by Mario Lee, social planner for the city of Vancouver, will have a big impact on the future of horse racing in Vancouver. Lee has the task of reporting to the city council on the impact the addition of slot machines at Hastings would have for the city. Slots are currently banned in Vancouver.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - At this time last spring, trainer John Ross was sitting pretty on the 3-year-old front with Wild Whiskey, Shaws Creek, and Tails of the Crypt all under his shed row.

Wild Whiskey, a Canadian-bred, was coming off a romping win in the Woodstock Stakes, and Shaws Creek, another Queen's Plate eligible, had finished a strong third in the Achievement.

Tails of the Crypt, bred in Kentucky, had run second in the Tampa Bay Derby and was pointing for the open races on the Plate trail.

FORT ERIE, Ontario - Fort Erie opens Saturday with an eight-race program that drew 72 entries. The 117-day meet runs through Nov. 11.

For the first time, the meet will start with a four-day racing week, Saturday through Tuesday. In the past, the meet began with a three-day week, Saturday through Monday, with Tuesdays added after one month.

The only exception to the Saturday-Tuesday schedule this year is a Friday program on the Fourth of July. Eliminated from last year are cards that were held on alternating Wednesdays during midsummer.

Trainer Graham Motion has had good luck in the Delaware Oaks, winning the Grade 3 race for 3-year-old fillies in 2000 with Sincerely and finishing second to Allamerican Bertie with Alternate last year.

The $500,000 Delaware Oaks is still nearly three months away, but already Motion is thinking it might be a good long-range target for his promising filly Coquettish.

Coquettish, a well-beaten third in her season debut sprinting in Laurel Park's Jamela Stakes, returns to a route for Saturday's $75,000 Caesar's Wish Stakes at Pimlico.

The opening-day signal from Hollywood Park was blacked out at betting sites in six states in the mid-Atlantic Wednesday after negotiations on a simulcast contract between the tracks and Hollywood's parent company, Churchill Downs, broke down.

LEXINGTON, Ky. - When racing fans name the best handicap horses in training in North America, the familiar suspects are: Medaglia d'Oro, Congaree, Milwaukee Brew, Harlan's Holiday, and Volponi.

Mineshaft has not crashed that elite category - not yet, anyway. Mineshaft has done almost everything trainer Neil Howard has asked of him by winning four of five starts since being imported last fall from England, but he hasn't faced the best around.