OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Vesta, who last year wont the Grade 3 Ms. Preakness and the Smart Halo at Pimlico, returns to the races in Sunday's $60,000 Safely Kept at Aqueduct.

Vesta, who is owned by Five K Farm, meets eight other fillies and mares in the six-furlong Safely Kept.

After finishing fourth in the Grade 1 Prioress on July 6, Vesta was diagnosed with knee chips and underwent surgery. Vesta, a daughter of Fortunate Prospect, spent a few months on a Florida farm recuperating before returning to trainer Joe Aquilino's Aqueduct barn in late October.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - With six of the seven highweights passing the race and only three pounds separating highweight Miesque's Approval from the lowweights, it doesn't take a genius to realize Sunday's $100,000 Canadian Turf Handicap is completely up for grabs.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Barring the unexpected, Sky Mesa will not run in the 2003 Kentucky Derby.

"He hasn't been back to the track yet," trainer John Ward said at Gulfstream Park on Friday morning. "He's still got something going on in that one heel inside the right bulb. He walks under tack every day but until he's 100 percent he won't go to the track to gallop.

NEW ORLEANS - The demise of The Thoroughbred Corporation, as Mark Twain might have said, has been greatly exaggerated.

Despite the death in Saudi Arabia last July of its principal owner, Prince Ahmed bin Salman, The Thoroughbred Corp. remains a force in the United States. The stable has reduced its numbers of horses, but still has several prominent runners, most notably Kafwain, the early favorite for the Kentucky Derby.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Because of poor track conditions, Aqueduct canceled Saturday's live card, the third straight day of racing hit by winter weather. Management called off Friday's racing after the first race because of the deteriorating track condition, and the entire Thursday card was scrapped because of a snowstorm.

After Thursday's snow, the temperature climbed into the 30's on Friday and the track began to thaw.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Evening Attire, one of the country's leading handicap horses in 2002, returned to Belmont Park on Wednesday after a winter vacation on a farm in Unionville, Pa.

Evening Attire, a 5-year-old gelding, will likely begin galloping - weather permitting - later this week over the training track, said trainer Pat Kelly.

PORTLAND, Ore. - The list of nominations for Sunday's City of Roses Stakes, a six-furlong race for fillies and mares, made many wish there was a bigger starting gate at Portland Meadows.

While there were no real standouts on the roster of 19, there were no obvious throwouts, either. Nevertheless, seven nominees were excluded on the basis of money earned during 2002-03.

Although it is a stakes race restricted to Maryland-breds, the conditions for the $60,000 Conniver contain no requirement that a horse must have previously won a stakes to enter. But a look at the list of the 12 fillies and mares in the field for Saturday's seven-furlong Conniver at Laurel Park reveals that stakes winners are the rule, not the exception.

Eight of the runners have at least one stakes victory on their resume, but none of those wins have come this year. In short, it's a tough race to sort through for handicappers.

SUNLAND PARK, N.M. - The $50,000 Santa Teresa Handicap for older fillies and mares at Sunland Park features a rematch between front-running Devious Way and the closer Cielo Girl.

In the six-furlong Czaria Handicap here Feb. 9, Devious Ways won wire to wire, but Cielo Girl was closing fast and was beaten only three-quarters of a length. The 6 1/2-furlong Santa Teresa gives Cielo Girl an extra sixteenth to catch Devious Ways.

ALBANY, Calif. - The presence of graded stakes winner Bare Necessities in Sunday's $60,000-added Sacramento Handicap at Golden Gate Fields prompts the ageless question, "What's a nice girl like you doing in a place like this?"

The answer is quite simple. With trainer Wally Dollase opting to pass Sunday's Grade 1 Santa Margarita at Santa Anita, the Sacramento is a perfect spot for a filly ready to run. The only other upcoming dirt race for Bare Necessities at Santa Anita is the $75,000-added Santa Lucia at 1 1/16 miles on March 30.