MIAMI - When entries were drawn Monday for Thursday's $100,000 Americana Handicap at Calder, rain was falling in buckets over a turf course that had not seen any action since June 9. So it was no surprise that four of the 11 horses entered for the Americana, scheduled for 1 1/8 miles over the grass, were entered for dirt only, including Sir Bear and Wertz.

Sir Bear has not started since having bled in the Grade 2 Hawthorne Gold Cup Handicap on May 18. Trainer Ralph Ziadie has put two sharp works under Sir Bear's belt, including five furlongs in 1:00 on Saturday.

ALTOONA, Iowa - Defending champion Bonapaw will be the 123-pound highweight, conceding three to eight pounds to four rivals in the $150,000 Iowa Sprint Handicap at Prairie Meadows on Thursday evening.

Bonapaw, a winner of 14 of 30 starts and $724,000, seemed on the verge of becoming one of the nation's leading sprinters after capturing three stakes races at Fair Grounds last winter.

BOSSIER CITY, La. - Candid Glen, who as a closer is dependent on pace, should get a better setup than he did in his last start Thursday in the $100,000 Independence Breeders' Cup at Louisiana Downs.

The 1 1/16-mile turf race drew nine older horses, including Coach Rags, Chauffe Au Rouge, Maysville Slew, and Rahy's Secret.

Candid Glen did well to close for third last month in the $250,000 Dallas Turf Cup at Lone Star Park, a 1 1/8-mile race that was won wire to wire by the talented Suances, who is set to run Saturday in the Grade 1 United Nations at Monmouth Park.

SALEM, N.H. - Thursday's $75,000 Rockingham Breeders' Cup Handicap has plenty of style.

Trainer Christophe Clement is sending Step With Style back to Rockingham Park to defend her title in this race. She will be making her first appearance in New England since being voted the region's 2001 horse of the year.

Trainer Bill Mott, who is gunning for his third straight stakes win this meet, will send in Stylish for the race.

PLEASANTON, Calif. - It's summertime in northern California. The living is easy and the fish really are jumping . . .

Veterinarian Dr. Don Smith was making his rounds at Golden Gate Fields on June 23, when a fish fell out of the sky and hit him.

"I was standing outside of Gloria Haley's barn talking with [vet] Jay Reynolds when a fish hit me on the shoulder," Dr. Smith said. "It was eight inches long and hit me pretty good."

CHICAGO - Three years, 36 starts and half a world away from the beginning of her racing career, Golden Antigua has moved into her halcyon days.

She is a throwback to a different era, when racehorses thrived on action. Golden Antigua made 12 starts as a 2-year-old, seven at age 3, 10 as a 4-year-old, and already has run six times this year. Besides a month's break between starts here and there and a break from racing when she was imported from Europe, Golden Antigua doesn't require any significant time off. And the more she races, the better she gets.

Governor's Pride and Wise Dusty, the winner and runner-up in the 2001 Charles Town Dash, meet again in this year's edition of the 4 1/2-furlong stakes on Thursday.

Ten male sprinters, many of whom are front-runners, entered the $100,000 Charles Town Dash, an invitational race.

Last year, Governor's Pride, who is trained by Tim Ritchey, won the Charles Town Dash by 6 3/4 lengths after setting the pace in the slop. The gelding covered the distance in a sizzling 50.40 seconds and earned a career-best Beyer Speed Figure of 111.

FORT ERIE, Ontario - Six runners have stepped up to oppose swift Best of the Duck in Thursday's $60,000 WKBW-TV Parnitha Stakes at Fort Erie. The six-furlong sprint is for Canadian-foaled horses that have had at least two starts at the meeting.

"They have been ducking the Duck. It's been two months to the day when he runs Thursday," said assistant trainer Carl Norris, husband of the Duck's trainer, Myckie Neubauer. "They wouldn't enter against him and the races wouldn't fill."

SHAKOPEE, Minn. - Bettors looking for a single in Thursday's $50,000-guaranteed pick six won't get much help in the $35,000-added Blair's Cove Stakes.

Among the field of eight Minnesota-breds in the Blair's Cove, at 1 1/16 miles on turf, are two previous winners of the stakes, Ashar and Bleu Victoriate.

Ashar rallied wide to beat Bleu Victoriate by a length in last year's running of the Blair's Cove. In 2000, Bleu Victoriate won the Blair's Cove and was named Canterbury's horse of the meet.

COLLINSVILLE, Ill. - Thursday's $25,000-added Roman Colonel Stakes for 3-year-old colts and geldings at six furlongs boils down to one thing: How good is Bulldog George?

Trainer Jimmy Wiser knew he had a good one a year ago, but each time Bulldog George got close to a race, an injury - he shin-bucked twice - would halt his progress. A full brother and stablemate to the stakes-placed filly Shania's Code, Bulldog George finally made it to the races June 16 and destroyed a maiden special field by more than 18 lengths.