Determining the top Maryland-bred juveniles of 2002 will come down to the final day of year when the $100,000 Maryland Juvenile Championship and the $100,000 Maryland Juvenile Filly Championship - the two richest stakes on the calendar for registered Maryland-bred 2-year-olds - are run on New Year's Eve at Laurel Park.

Both races could hold important implications in the final voting for statebred champions and can help boost a sire to the top of year-end rankings. Both races will be run at 1 1/8 miles and have a rich array of nominees.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. - In an era when 2-year-olds are campaigned sparingly in the months after the Breeders' Cup, Toccet has set a different standard this fall.

One of the nation's leading 2-year-olds, Toccet has been more active since he finished ninth in the Breeders' Cup at Arlington Park on Oct. 26 than at any time in his career.

A few years ago, nobody would have believed that little Delta Downs in Vinton, La., would someday be putting up a $250,000 purse for 2-year-old fillies. But that will be reality Friday night, when the track, now reaping the benefit of slot machines, runs the Delta Princess.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Trainer Scott Schwartz said Classic Endeavor is doing so well, he wants to run the colt where he has the best shot to win.

That is why Schwartz scratched Classic Endeavor out of Wednesday's classified allowance at Aqueduct and entered him in Friday's $48,000 allowance feature, a much softer spot.

Classic Endeavor is the horse to beat among seven 3-year-olds and older horses entered in the third-level allowance at 1 1/8 miles.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. - As quickly as it appeared that Saturday's $375,000 Hollywood Futurity would have a small field, there has been renewed support for the circuit's richest race for 2-year-olds.

Ghostzapper, a recent maiden winner trained by Bobby Frankel, and Domestic Dispute, who was stakes-placed at Santa Anita in October for trainer Bob Baffert, were added to the list of probables on Wednesday. Ghostzapper was previously considered doubtful, while Domestic Dispute had been removed from consideration by Baffert last weekend.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Tracemark needed a summer vacation after he finished sixth in last July's Swaps Stakes, his worst performance of a stakes-winning, seven-race campaign in the first half of the year.

"He had some foot problems," trainer Craig Dollase said. "He needed a freshening and was tailing off. The last race wasn't him."

The vacation is over. On Friday, Tracemark returns in a $58,000 allowance race at 1 1/16 miles at Hollywood Park. Owner Edward McGrath and Dollase are hoping the race will lead to lucrative stakes at the upcoming Santa Anita meet.

PORTLAND, Ore. - Trophy for Me and Baldjim square off in Friday's 4 1/2-furlong eighth race at Portland Meadows. The race is for older horses eligible for $3,200 starter-allowance conditions and has lured a field of eight.

Trophy for Me, a 9-year-old with 16 wins, is coming off back-to-back scores at the $2,500 claiming level. He led throughout six furlongs in both of those scores. Trophy for Me, who races for trainer Larry Cermack, no doubt has designs on the lead again Friday, but Baldjim poses a formidable obstacle.

The last time Cherokee's Boy ran on a bullring he was a 21 3/4-length winner. Trainer Gary Capuano is hoping that result means Cherokee's Boy will successfully handle the turns of the six-furlong track in Saturday night's $500,000 Delta Jackpot at Delta Downs in Vinton, La.

The one-mile race for 2-year-olds drew a field of 10 when entries were taken Wednesday.

ALBANY, Calif. - Jim Moore, general manager of the Sonoma County Fair in Santa Rosa, is planning to approach the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors on Jan. 7 to request funds to build a turf course at the fair.

"The number one thing the industry has said it wants is some opportunity for turf racing in summer months," Moore said.

"We here in Santa Rosa feel strongly about staying in the business [of racing]. If that's what it takes to stay competitive, that's what we want to do."

PORTLAND, Ore. - Trainer Sue Utley says the same prayer for every horse she saddles, but she never said it so often or so fervently as during the running of last Saturday's $27,015 OS West Oregon Futurity at Portland Meadows.

Utley trains Glad to Be Here, who moved strongly under jockey Angel Felix to engage the pacesetting favorite, Stately Jack Flash, midway around the second turn of the one-mile race. It was at that point that the trainer began repeating, "Lord, let him run his fastest, but don't let him get hurt."