NORTH RANDALL, Ohio - The 16th annual Best of Ohio series, which traditionally crowns each season's Ohio-bred divisional champions, will be held at Thistledown on Monday.

The Best of Ohio is made up of five statebred stakes and offers total purses of $375,000. The Best of Ohio rotates on an annual basis between the state's three Thoroughbred tracks, and in 2003 it will be held at River Downs. A pick five will be offered on the Best of Ohio races, and with outlets in California taking the races, the pool should be attractive this year.

LEXINGTON, Ky. - After driving past a pack of front-runners in tandem, Riskaverse nosed out Zenda in a thrilling final furlong in the $500,000 before a packed house of 26,714 at Keeneland Saturday.

Riskaverse, a 7-1 shot in a field of nine 3-year-old turf fillies, was up in the frantic final jumps to defeat the British invader Zenda by a neck, giving trainer Pat Kelly his second Grade 1 upset in a two-week span. Kelly won the Sept. 28 Jockey Club Gold Cup with Evening Attire.

ELMONT, N.Y. - When entries were taken Thursday morning for Saturday's $150,000 , it had not started to rain in New York. But, the forecast was ominous so trainer Todd Pletcher entered Fisher Pond as a main-track only in case the race was rained off the turf.

The rains came Thursday night and continued through Saturday, forcing the Lawrence Realization from the Widener Turf Course to a sloppy main track. Pletcher scratched his turf horse, Finality, and cashed his insurance policy when Fisher Pond splashed to a 4 1/4-length victory at soggy Belmont Park.

Certantee made the jump from turf to dirt with an impressive score in the $150,000 John D. Schapiro Memorial Breeders' Cup Handicap on Saturday at Laurel Park in Maryland. The race was reduced to five runners after being moved from the grass to the main track because of soggy conditions. The speedy Elberton led early for nearly six furlongs, with the Shug McGaughey-trained New York shipper, 7-5 favorite Polish Miner, sitting about a length behind.

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. - Earlie Fires is the all-time leading jockey at Arlington for several reasons, chief among them his ability to finish strongly. Even at 55, Fires has not lost that knack. Passed in midstretch, Fires roused Zydeco Dancer again in the final half-furlong, regained the lead just before the wire, and won the $75,000 by a neck for his 100th Arlington Stakes win.

Saint Verre beat Tempest Fugit to the lead and held off the closers to win the $150,000 Friday night at The Meadowlands in East Rutherford, N.J.

St. Verre fought Tempest Fugit for command for about a half-mile, inched away to a clear lead, and turned back a challenge by Pinky Pizwaanski in the stretch to win by a length. Spruce Run was another 18 1/4 lengths back in third.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Shane Sellers, who in late August announced that he was retiring from a sensational career as a jockey, reversed course Saturday when he revealed that he plans to begin riding again at the end of this month.

Sellers, 36, hopes to return early in the Churchill Downs fall meet, which begins Oct. 27. Making his return more notable, Sellers has hired Fred Aime as his agent. Aime was a highly successful agent for Hall of Fame jockey Pat Day for 10 years before the pair split in 1995.

Xtra Heat comes into the Breeders' Cup Sprint as the fastest filly sprinter in the country. The 2-year-old filly Kitty Knight isn't nearly as accomplished or famous as Xtra Heat, but based on Kitty Knight's career debut, she may have similar potential.

Kitty Knight, who comes out of a maiden race that featured wickedly fast fractions, is the most intriguing entrant in the $60,000 Heavenly Cause, one of two $60,000 stakes for Maryland-bred 2-year-olds on a special Columbus Day 10-race card at Laurel Park.

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. - If Monday's Sweetest Chant Stakes at Arlington comes down to heart, just give the race to Mckinney right now.

Mckinney is a throwback, a filly trainer Steve Asmussen can send out to the racetrack every couple weeks - at a sprint distance or a route, on turf or dirt - and know she will give her best. In 24 starts the last two seasons, Mckinney has won 11 times for owner Nelson Bunker Hunt at distances as short as six furlongs and as long as

1 1/16 miles.

SAN MATEO, Calif. - Northern California has become a haven for hot apprentice riders in the past year.

It began with Kevin Krigger, who arrived at Golden Gate Fields last December. Francisco Duran won his first race during the Golden Gate Fields meeting, and has developed into a solid rider. Omar Figueroa arrived in the spring and became the third-leading rider at Bay Meadows behind Russell Baze and Jason Lumpkins.

The latest arrival of note is 21-year-old Jose Luis Rivera Jr.