ELMONT, N.Y. - Trainer Todd Pletcher is not necessarily looking to make a turf horse out of Smok'n Frolic. He is just looking for a spot in which to bring her back off an extended layoff.

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. - An Illinois-bred gets a maiden race and two allowance conditions, then it's out of statebred company and into the big, scary world of open racing. It's a tough jump for a horse to make, and he needs a little luck to do it.

But how much luck does has trainer Christine Janks have left?

She used much of it Sunday, when she won three times in the first five races.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. - The depth of Bobby Frankel's stable is on display in Friday's sixth race at Hollywood Park.

Frankel has two leading contenders in a field of 10 in a $50,000 allowance over 1 1/16 miles on turf - Fully Invested and Northern Blue. Both are 4-year-old fillies with stakes experience in Europe who are making their first start in this country.

Fully Invested had one win in five starts in England, including a third in a listed stakes over about 1 1/4 miles in May 2001. She is unraced since October, when she was sixth in a stakes at Newmarket.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Stronach Stable and trainer Malcolm Pierce have won numerous turf races at Woodbine since they teamed up a few years ago, most recently with Montezuma's Gold last weekend.

That same combination will send out Silver Axe in Friday's feature, a 1 1/8-mile grass event for $80,000 optional claimers.

AUBURN, Wash. - Victor Slew may have a slight edge over an otherwise evenly matched group of 10 in Friday's best race at Emerald Downs, a 6 1/2-furlong sprint for 3-year-olds eligible to be claimed for $25,000.

VANCOUVER, British Columbia - Thundering Herd will likely be favored over seven other 3-year-olds going 1 1/16 miles and running for a top claiming price of $25,000 in the Hastings Park feature race this Friday evening. First post is 5 pm.

EDMONTON, Alberta - The second local stakes prep for the Aug. 24 Canadian Derby goes Saturday, and Dark Fuse will be one of the favorites after having won the $40,000 Western Canada impressively here June 29.

Dark Fuse, a 3-year-old Washington-bred, might never have raced at Northlands Park, except a scar on his leg front leg scared off potential buyers at a yearling sale in Washington.

"He's a very nice horse with good breeding, and if it wasn't for the scar on his knee he wouldn't even be here," said Ron Burrell, who trains Dark Fuse.

Jockey Yamil Rosario was in stable condition with a head injury Wednesday after being thrown from his mount and trampled during a race at Colonial Downs on Tuesday evening, The Associated Press reported.

Rosario was on Pyrite Missy in the fifth race when the horse clipped heels with another runner on the first turn and went down, throwing Rosario forward. Rosario was trampled by Pyrite Missy and possibly others. The semi-conscious rider was taken to Medical College of Virginia Hospitals in Richmond.

There are no major changes to the stakes schedule for the 2002 Fairplex Park meeting Sept. 13-29 at the Los Angeles County Fairgrounds in Pomona. The schedule is nearly identical to the one offered in 2001.

Last year's meeting was scheduled for 18 days, but there was no racing on Sept. 11 after the terrorist attacks.

The year's 17-day meeting has at least one stakes a day and five worth $100,000 or more. There are no graded stakes, but many of the stakes are used as preps for the Oak Tree at Santa Anita meeting in October and early November.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Five years ago, trainer Richard Mandella swept the first three positions in the Hollywood Gold Cup with Gentlemen, Siphon, and Sandpit. In the same race this Sunday, he would settle for a third-place finish by Out of Mind.

Mandella's older horse division is not as strong as it was in 1997 when those three combined for a remarkable record of six major stakes and earnings of $5,306,300.

"Believe me: I appreciated it at the time," he said on Wednesday.