SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - New York Racing Association linemaker Don LaPlace made several strong statements in establishing and defending his morning line for Saturday's $1 million Travers Stakes. LaPlace installed Medaglia d'Oro as the 2-5 favorite, the strongest morning-line he said he has made in this race in his 30 years on the job.

"The way he won in front of everybody here the other day,'' LaPlace said, referring to Medaglia d'Oro's 13 3/4-length Jim Dandy victory. "He got a 120 Beyer Speed Figure; what are you going to do with that? He was just 3-5 and won by 13 lengths.''

AUBURN, Wash. - Road Afleet, who was defeated by only a nose by Colterkind in the 6 1/2-furlong Governor's Handicap on Aug. 4, will take the 11th of 12 available spots in Sunday's 67th renewal of the Grade 3, $250,000 Longacres Mile at Emerald Downs. Road Afleet's inclusion leaves three horses - Prodigious, Sabertooth, and Sullivanitis - to draw for the final starting berth in the race.

Trainer Dan Markle said he would rather have saved the Washington-bred Road Afleet for the Washington Championship and run Winitall in the Mile, but the weights dictated his choice.

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. - From the beginning of the Arlington Park meet in June through the International Festival of Racing, one type of race is notably absent from the daily fare: turf sprints.

But with the Festival over, Arlington racing secretary David Bailey now can give himself a little extra leeway in regard to using the grass course. The first turf sprint of the season, a $45,000 allowance for fillies and mares, highlights the Friday card, with a twilight first post of 3 p.m.

MIAMI - The nomination sheet for the $150,000 Miami Mile Breeders' Cup Handicap on Labor Day at Calder consists of the usual array of local suspects, including graded turf winners Unite's Big Red, Band Is Passing, and Marquette. But surprisingly the list also includes Express Tour and Pisces, both of whom were stars around south Florida earlier in their careers before going on to bigger and better things out of town.

MUSKEGON, Mich. - Effective Saturday, there will be another 10 percent purse increase at Great Lakes Downs, according to Chris Dragone, the track's general manager. This will be the third increase, a total of just more than 25 percent, since June.

Dragone attributed the extra purse money to increased simulcasting revenue.

COLLINSVILLE, Ill. - Apprentice riders won five of the first six races on Fairmount's Sunday afternoon card, which is believed to be unprecedented in track history.

In the first Argelio "Gino" Velasquez scored with Fort Out East ($6). Heather Irion won the second aboard Hey Hey ($9.20), Iram "Aaron" Diego booted home Hecando ($5) in the third, and Jorge Carreno won the fourth on Major Dundee ($3.40).

Jockey Kerwin Clark won six races from seven mounts Monday night at Evangeline Downs in Lafayette, La., to cap an outstanding week. Overall, the 42-year-old Clark won 13 races at Evangeline in four days, including the Saturday night running of the $75,000 Evangeline Mile on Oak Hall.

Clark, who at one point had retired from the saddle, has had a colorful career. In addition to being a Louisiana fixture, he spent time riding in Saudi Arabia.

COLUMBUS, Neb. - Fans in Nebraska have reason to watch with interest as Awesome Humor continues her ascent in the 2-year-old filly ranks this year. The recent winner of the Grade 2 Adirondack Stakes at Saratoga, Awesome Humor is out of a multiple stakes winner in Nebraska, Horns Gray.

SHAKOPEE, Minn. - Trainer Sherri Shepherd and her husband, Dave - a jockey who was sidelined with a back injury in July - were both on hand for Thursday's fourth race and witnessed a new chapter in family history when their son Justin rode in his first recognized parimutuel event at Canterbury Park. Justin, 16, piloted the Shepherd trainee Where He Go to a fifth-place finish after briefly threatening along the rail nearing upper stretch.

A horse who ran second in a graded stakes earlier this year, a track record-holder, and a runner who was able to score after running the first six furlongs of a seven-furlong stakes in 1:08 and change are among the 71 horses pre-entered for next Saturday's Claiming Crown Championships at Philadelphia Park.