Churchill Downs has received approval to conduct a Kentucky Oaks future wager this year for the first time. The Kentucky Racing Commission ruled in favor of the wager on Wednesday.

Jim Gates, interim general manager at Churchill Downs, confirmed that in addition to the Oaks future wager, Churchill will again offer three separate future wagers on the Kentucky Derby. The dates for the first two Derby pools will be Feb. 13-16 and Mar. 13-16. The lone Oaks future pool will coincide with the third Derby pool, scheduled for April 3-6.

Xtra Heat, a Grade 1 winner and Eclipse Award champion, will make her 5-year-old debut in Saturday's $60,000 What a Summer Stakes at Laurel Park.

Xtra Heat's trainer, John Salzman, said he is using the six-furlong What a Summer as a prep for the $200,000 Barbara Fritchie on Feb. 15 at Laurel. Xtra Heat, who is stabled at Laurel, won the Grade 2 Fritchie last year.

ALBANY, Calif. - When Memmy O made her debut as a 2-year-old, trainer Jeff Bonde thought she was pretty special.

She beat colts in her first start, and Friday, nearly two years after that maiden race, she will attempt a Cinderella-story second act when she finally makes her second start in a six-furlong allowance race that is the Golden Gate Fields feature.

NEW ORLEANS - When a horse goes from a close fifth-place finish in the Breeders' Cup Mile to a close fifth-place finish in an ungraded stakes race, it can leave the trainer scratching his head.

Talk about a horse coming back strong after surgery. Trainer Dallas Keen says Valhol, a 7-year-old gelding who will start as the 117-pound highweight Saturday night in the $100,000 Maxxam Gold Cup at Sam Houston Race Park, has the ankles of a 2-year-old now.

"He's excellent," said Keen. "He has full range of motion to his ankle. Sometimes, when you take a chip out, you lose range."

ARCADIA, Calif. - Eddie Delahoussaye wanted to ride through the end of 2002, then ride into the sunset. But an accident last August at Del Mar altered his plan and sent him to the sidelines. On Monday night, he decided to stay there, announcing his retirement after nearly 35 years as a jockey.

Delahoussaye, 51, said the head and neck injuries he suffered from a fall during a race more than four months ago were still too troublesome for doctors to clear him to ride again.

ARCADIA, Calif. - Lake William was a 6-year-old with only 17 career starts when he showed up Dec. 26 in a $62,500 claiming race, his first start in eight months. Trainer Vladimir Cerin said what everyone was thinking: "Horses that have had problems throughout their career continue to have problems."

The potential upside, however, was as obvious as Lake William's flaws. "He was past-class, he looked like he was working okay, and on his best days, he's pretty darn good," Cerin said.

ARCADIA, Calif. - Adoration is due for some luck Sunday in the Grade 2 El Encino Stakes for 4-year-old fillies. Winner of the Grade 2 Hollywood Oaks last summer, Adoration's form tailed off in fall and she was stopped cold trying to rally in a Dec. 31 turf sprint comeback in which she finished ninth. Sunday, Adoration stretches out to two turns and returns to dirt. If her Tuesday morning team work was an accurate gauge, Adoration will be a major contender in the 1 1/16-mile El Encino.

LEXINGTON, Ky. - The Keeneland Association announced Tuesday that it would not hold its prestigious July select yearling auction in 2003, ending weeks of speculation that the sale might be canceled.

Plans call for the auction to resume in 2004 with a revised format, possibly including a limited number of horses selected for superior conformation as well as pedigree.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Their fathers experienced the most glorious moments of their careers at Gulfstream Park, but all dads' daughters are trying to do Thursday is make it through their first allowance condition.