In her brief career, 3-year-old filly Alternate has passed every test, barely breaking a sweat. After running third in her career debut, Alternate won her next three starts by a combined margin of more than 20 lengths.

The final exam is still almost a month away, but first Alternate must show she can step up to the next level of competition in Saturday's $175,000 Susan's Girl Breeders' Cup at Delaware Park. The 1 1/16-mile Susan's Girl is the final local prep for the Grade 3 Delaware Oaks on July 20.

EDMONTON, Alberta - Dark Fuse will be the 119-pound topweight and should rule as the favorite as he returns to sprinting in Saturday's Western Canada for 3-year-olds at Northlands Park.

Owned by George and Rosemarie Hominuik, Dark Fuse heads a field of nine in the 6 1/2-furlong Western Canada and will break from post 7 under Orlando Martinez.

After winning an allowance following a nose defeat at the same level, Dark Fuse won the President's Handicap in his first stakes try, at Stampede Park this spring.

VANCOUVER, British Columbia - Ten 3-year-olds are entered for the $75,000 Burnaby Stakes Saturday, and with many of them trying three turns for the first time it looks like a wide-open race.

Likely favorite Commodore Craig has never been worse than second, but has never gone this far, and will face early pressure from Test Drive and Silver Donn.

AUBURN, Wash. - Anazeha heads an intriguing cast of seven fillies in Saturday's top offering at Emerald Downs, a $50,000 optional claiming race at six furlongs.

Though all of the entrants have the potential to make a splash in stakes, a win Saturday would almost certainly propel Anazeha into the added-money ranks. The

6-year-old Anazeha boasts a career record of 6 wins from 15 starts, including two wins over handicap runners in her native Chile and is coming off an ultra-game victory at the $40,000 optional claiming level in her local debut on May 27.

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. - Arlington Park and horsemen agreed this week that purses during the second portion of the Arlington meet, the Summer Festival of Racing, would be raised by only $20,000 a day, to $260,000, instead of by $40,000 a day.

Also, Arlington will not raise overnight purses during the three racing days preceding the Breeders' Cup, as had been planned.

ELMONT, N.Y. - Street Cry, whose authoritative victory in the Stephen Foster Handicap put him atop the handicap division, will skip next Saturday's $500,000 Suburban Handicap and instead point to the $750,000 Whitney Handicap on Aug. 3 at Saratoga, his connections said Thursday.

The Suburban also lost Grade 1 winner Include, who is also being pointed to the Whitney, according to trainer Bud Delp.

ELMONT, N.Y. - Zavata and Hussar, the two most impressive maiden 2-year-old winners in New York this spring, square off in an early-season matchup in Saturday's $100,000 Tremont Stakes at Belmont Park.

Zavata, purchased for $575,000 at the Fasig-Tipton 2-year-old-in-training sale in February, overcame a slight stumble at the break to win his maiden by 5 1/2 lengths on May 27. Jockey Jerry Bailey never moved his hands from Zavata's neck in the race yet still ran five furlongs in 57.61 seconds, including a final eighth of 11.82 seconds.

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. - Between 1989 and 1993, Arlington chairman Richard Duchossois won 10 stakes races at his own track. But since Quentin Corner won the Explosive Darling in 1993, Duchossois has not won any.

It is not for lack of trying. Duchossois breeds his own racehorses and has several stabled here with trainers Chris Block and Gene Cilio. Duchossois often has higher-class turf horses on the West Coast, and he occasionally dips into the European market, trying to come up with a stakes horse to campaign in this country.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Frustrated by the rising costs of workmen's compensation rates in California, a group of trainers on Thursday demanded financial support from racetracks and the Thoroughbred Owners of California, and contemplated conducting a boycott of the entry box next week to attract attention to their cause.

The group of approximately 45 trainers, which met Thursday on the backstretch at Hollywood Park, have asked representatives of the racetracks and TOC to meet with them on Saturday to discuss ways to offset rising insurance costs.

Leo's Last Hurrahy and Rumbleinthejungle, who each won stakes in their last starts, meet for the first time Saturday in the colts and geldings division of the $122,500 Texas Stallion Stakes at Lone Star Park.

The 5 1/2- furlong race for 2-year-olds sired by stallions nominated to the series, is one of six restricted stakes to be run as part of the second annual Stars of Texas Day.