AUBURN, Wash. - The Muckleshoot American Indian tribe has purchased the land upon which Emerald Downs sits. The tribe operates Washington's largest casino, just a few miles from Emerald Downs in Auburn.

The tribe announced Tuesday that it had purchased the 157-acre site from LaTerra Limited Partnership, which is headed by Mario Segale, an investor in Emerald, for an undisclosed sum. Emerald Downs holds a 60-year lease on the property, so the sale is not expected to affect horse racing, at least in the short term.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. -- Christophe Clement sends so many turf runners to California he ought to keep a permanent stable here. Most of his hit-and-runs lately have been with Voodoo Dancer, but the trainer has sent west another filly from his

powerful stable for Thursday's $70,000-added Waya Handicap at Hollywood Park.

Clement's filly Julie Jalouse was assigned top weight of 119 pounds for the Waya, the feature on a Thanksgiving Day card that begins at 11 a.m. Pacific. The eight-race program should end by 2:30 p.m., giving fans plenty of time to get home to stuff themselves.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Trainer Howard Zucker is looking forward to more than a Thanksgiving get-together with his sister Joan this week in New York. For the second time this year, Zucker has made the cross-country trek to his native state in hopes of winning a Grade 1 race.

In May, Zucker brought Crafty C.T. to Belmont Park for the Metropolitan Handicap, where he finished third, 6 1/4 lengths behind Swept Overboard. Saturday, Zucker and Crafty C.T. will be back to contest the $350,000 Cigar Mile at Aqueduct, the last Grade 1 of the year in New York.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Auntie Em, Toto, it's a twister.

Wicked Santa Ana winds came howling out of the north Monday night and into Tuesday morning, knocking down power lines and trees, and sparking small brush fires, throughout Southern California. Although there was no significant damage at either Santa Anita or Hollywood Park, the horses were spooked by the wind and resulting debris, and producers of the movie "Seabiscuit" had to make adjustments at Santa Anita.

ALBANY, Calif. - The word "potential" is the bane of athletes. It's a label that the Jerry Hollendorfer-trained 3-year-old Metatron has carried with him since he won his debut.

Metatron has won 3 of 9 starts, and has finished off the board only once, in his last race, a sprint stakes against older horses. He has earned $186,720, cheated death, and come back from an operation for chips in his knee.

But the "P" word clouds everything Metatron has accomplished.

NEW ORLEANS - An hour past the end of training Saturday, one of Steve Asmussen's top assistants stood in a stall with a low-level claiming filly, trimming her coat with a pair of electric clippers.

Across the backstretch, the sound of clippers also whirred in trainer Tom Amoss's shed row, but they were being operated by someone from Warren's Clipping Service.

Maybe there's something in the difference that says a lot about how these two stables work. "Or maybe we're just cheap," Asmussen said Monday morning.

MIAMI - Cornelio Velasquez had gone three straight days without winning a race heading into Sunday's program - a colossal slump for a rider who has won the last three jockey titles at Calder.

Velasquez then went out and ended the drought in high style, winning six races on Sunday's program. Five of the victories came in succession and they included Maliziosa's win in the Opera Diva Stakes for trainer Bill Mott.

"It's a funny game," said Velasquez, who came back to win two races on Monday. "I go three days without winning anything and then I win six in one day."

Jim "Mattress Mac" McIngvale, whose Truckle Feature could go favored in the inaugural running of the $275,000 Great State Challenge Juvenile at Sam Houston Race Park on Dec. 7, is taking a more laid back approach to racing these days.

McIngvale, known for an aggressive, hands-on style of ownership in the past, has chosen to sit chilly of late and put his stable's future in the hands of people like trainer Bob Baffert and bloodstock agents J.B. and Kevin McKathan.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Can Mother Nature be good to Pat Kelly twice in one week?

Saturday, Kelly sent out Evening Attire to an easy eight-length victory in the off-the-turf Red Smith Handicap. The race was moved to the main track because New York Racing Association officials deemed Aqueduct's turf unsafe.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. - After his football team wreaked havoc on the New York Giants on Sunday, Robert McNair's horse will try to do the same to some of New York's top Thoroughbreds this Saturday in the Grade 1 Cigar Mile at Aqueduct.

While the 16-14 victory by the Houston Texans - owned by McNair - was considered a major upset, a victory by Congaree in the $350,000 Cigar Mile would not be as surprising. Congaree, who won the Grade 2 Wood Memorial over this track as a 3-year-old, will be the starting highweight at 119 pounds.