PORTLAND, Ore. - Nichole's Delight, an impressive 6 1/4-length winner of the one-mile Oregon Hers Stakes Dec. 14 in her last race at Portland Meadows, returns to take on allowance rivals at the same distance in Friday's featured eighth race for older fillies and mares.

Nichole's Delight, a 4-year-old daughter of Jeff's Companion who races for breeder George Hurliman, shipped here from Turf Paradise and took the Oregon Hers. She then returned to Phoenix and posted a six-length triumph over $12,500 claiming runners at six furlongs on Jan. 17, and now returns to her native state.

ARCADIA, Calif. - Pleasantly Perfect, the winner of the Goodwood Breeders' Cup Handicap last October, launches a campaign on Sunday that may lead to the other side of the world and back again in a quest for the Horse of the Year title.

Unraced since winning the Goodwood, Pleasantly Perfect returns in Sunday's $300,000 San Antonio Handicap at Santa Anita, a race that will draw top handicap horse Congaree.

ARCADIA, Calif. - Jockey Laffit Pincay Jr. won the 9,500th race of his prolific career in Wednesday's fifth race at Santa Anita.

The world's all-time leading rider, Pincay, 56, reached 9,499 on Saturday, but needed 15 more mounts on Saturday, Sunday, and part of Wednesday's program before reaching the milestone. He nearly scored victory number 9,500 in Wednesday's second race when his mount, Jaciro, finished a nose behind the heavily favored Point Clear. It was one of four runner-up finishes for Pincay in the 15-mount span.

SALEM, N.H. - Rockingham Park, Suffolk Downs, and the New England Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association have reached an agreement over simulcast fees, ending a horsemen's boycott and allowing a number of out-of-town Thoroughbred signals to return to Rockingham.

Suffolk officials declined to offer specifics on the deal, but said the arrangement will be worth in excess of $1 million this year to its Thoroughbred operation, with a specific portion earmarked for purses.

NEW ORLEANS - Lady Tak, an easy winner of the $100,000 Tiffany Lass here last Sunday, won't risk her unbeaten record again until the Grade 2, $350,000 Fair Grounds Oaks on March 8. Trainer Steve Asmussen said Lady Tak "came out of the race in great shape" but he preferred to give her a breather between starts.

"We'll skip the next one and just train her up to the Oaks," Asmussen said.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Saturday's $75,000-added Correction Handicap at Aqueduct got a little easier for would-be starters when trainer Tony Dutrow declared Wilzada from the sprint stakes before the weights were released on Sunday.

Wilzada instead will be pointed to the $200,000 Barbara Fritchie Handicap, a Grade 2 race run on Feb. 15 at Laurel Park, where Dutrow is stabled.

Wilzada has won her last three starts, including a five-length romp in the Interborough Handicap on Jan. 1 at Aqueduct.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - American Style disappointed in the Grade 3 Hal's Hope Handicap, while Baseball Champion and Justification were expected to do better when they began their 2003 campaigns under allowance conditions earlier this month.

All three may get a final chance to earn themselves a starting berth in the $500,000 Donn Handicap Feb. 22 when they meet under optional claiming conditions in Friday's ninth race at Gulfstream Park.

PHOENIX - One is a legend merely adding to his huge list of accomplishments. The other is a potential rising star, looking to take another step toward the big time.

The legend is Laffit Pincay Jr., who won his 9,500 Wednesday races, and the up-and-comer is Siberland, who may be aimed at the Kentucky Derby. They share the spotlight on Turf Paradise's Super Saturday card, which includes the $150,000 Turf Paradise Breeders' Cup, $100,000 Turf Paradise Derby, and $75,000 Arizona Oaks.

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - Bob Holthus is an Oaklawn Park institution, having won nine training titles and close to 800 races at the track, which opens for a 52-day meet Friday.

Holthus, who has trained here since 1953, will jump into the new meet head first. He has leading contenders in each of the three stakes scheduled for opening weekend, with Semifinal set to run in the $50,000 Dixie Belle on Friday, Cojet slated for the $50,000 Hot Springs on Saturday, and Alke for the $50,000 Mountain Valley on Sunday.

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - E J Harley, the popular Arkansas-bred sprinter who raced at Oaklawn Park for seven straight seasons, from 1995-2001, is back in Hot Springs following a one-year absence. He should be seen early in the meet, said his longtime trainer David Vance.

"He doesn't know he's an 11-year-old," Vance said. "He thinks he's still a 3-year-old."

E J Harley, who was a debut winner at Oaklawn in 1995, won at least one race at the track for six straight years. Among his local stakes wins was the Hot Springs, which he won for three consecutive years from 1998-2000.