MIAMI - If Friday's opening-day feature at Calder, the $35,000 Powder Break Handicap, is any indication, racing secretary Bob Umphrey should have little trouble filling the other 65 stakes during the 2002-2003 meeting.

Umphrey split the 1 1/16-mile Powder Break into two divisions when the race attracted 17 fillies and mares. The first division has nine starters, led by the Christophe Clement-trained Bloomy. The second and stronger split goes with eight runners and features another Clement stakes winner, Sheppard's Watch, along with Bay Street Gal, Platinum Tiara, and Wander Mom.

Record purses are on tap as Prairie Meadows begins its 53-day Thoroughbred meeting Friday night in what is a pivotal year for the track.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Spanish Decree's win here in last Sunday's Lady Angela was a family affair.

In becoming a stakes winner in the Lady Angela, Spanish Decree was carrying on a tradition for her family, as her dam, Spanish Play, and granddam, Good Decree, also won stakes here.

Spanish Decree also provided a huge boost for her owner-breeder-trainer Frank Huarte and his sons, Frank Jr. and Chris, who work with him here.

JAMAICA, N.Y. - Gander, who has been rubbing shoulders with racing's elite for the past 19 months, will take a step down in class when he returns to the New York-bred ranks in Sunday's $75,000-added Kings Point at Aqueduct.

Gander, a 6-year-old gelding owned by brothers Mike and Ted Gatsas, hasn't competed in restricted company since winning the Evan Shipman in July 2000.

Nearly all the horses who ran in the 1997 Kentucky Derby are no longer running. But one old-timer is still active - and still winning races.

Shammy Davis, an 8-year-old Pennsylvania-bred horse, defeated $3,500 claimers last week at Penn National Race Course. His share of the $4,200 purse raised his career bankroll to $300,990.

Five years ago, Shammy Davis, then in the barn of Nick Zito, earned a berth in the Derby after finishing third in the Grade 2 Jim Beam Stakes and fourth in the Grade 2 Lexington Stakes.

VINTON, La. - Revenue from the recently opened slot machine parlor at Delta Downs totaled $13.5 million for March, its first full month of operation. Since opening on Feb. 13, slots have generated more than $21.4 million for Delta's parent company, Boyd Gaming, according to state police reports. The track reported almost $25 million in gross revenues for the first quarter of this year with slots responsible for 86 percent. In comparison, the track made just $2.2 million the previous quarter, before the slots parlor began operation.

COLLINSVILLE, Ill. - Fellow Canadians and longtime friends David Cross and David Gall paid a visit to Fairmount on Sunday afternoon. Cross, best known for saddling 1983 Kentucky Derby winner Sunny's Halo, was based in Southern California before taking a break from the training grind. He plans to return to Canada this spring and open a public stable at Woodbine. Gall retired from riding at the conclusion of the 1999 season at 57 with 7,396 career wins, good for fourth highest all-time. He is in his third season as a trainer in Illinois.

GRAND ISLAND, Neb. - The field for Saturday's $100,000 Bosselman-Gus Fonner Handicap is shaping up as competitive with eight starters confirmed, plus a half-dozen others on the fence as of Wednesday morning.

Miner's Prize, trained by Forrest Kaelin, became definite for the race Wednesday morning and will be the starting highweight at 121 pounds. Kaelin will bring in Gerard Melancon to ride.

Apprentice Sandi Dorr has been the hottest rider on the grounds at Philadelphia Park.

This week, she has already ridden nine winners, including four over a sloppy track on Monday's program.

"I can't really explain it myself," said Dorr, who has moved into fourth in the track's jockey standings with 40 wins and is also the leading apprentice. "People are finally giving me a shot to ride some live horses and I've gotten lucky I guess. In the slop I had horses that just had natural speed. Let them run to the front, help them relax, and take it from there."

NORTH RANDALL, Ohio - Mike Rowland and Ricardo Feliciano are dead even in the race for leading rider with 19 winners apiece. Rowland holds the record here for most meet titles with 26, while Feliciano is looking for his first title.

Feliciano is a home-grown product. He is the son of former rider turned trainer Benny Feliciano, and the nephew of trainer Miguel Feliciano. In 1975 Benny Felicianao won the Ohio Derby on Brent's Prince, a top Ohio-bred colt who went on to be a successful sire.