OLDSMAR, Fla. - The king of the hill is playing catch me if you can.

Terry Houghton, who holds a nine-win edge over nearest challenger Manoel Cruz in the battle for leading rider entering Saturday's card at Tampa Bay Downs, has headed north to prepare to defend his riding title at Great Lakes Downs in Michigan.

Houghton won the 1998-99 and 1999-2000 riding titles here and finished second to Derek Bell last season. His agent, Frank "The Greek" Garoufalis, explained the plans of Houghton, who has won 86 races at the current meet.

FORT ERIE, Ontario - Fort Erie will start its 2002 meeting with a flourish Saturday, with 102 runners scheduled to start on the 10-race program.

Last year, 84 horses contested 10 races on opening day. The year before, 71 horses went to the gate for a nine-race program.

The 105-year-old Fort Erie Racetrack had a banner season in 2001. Ontrack wagering jumped more than 10 percent, to $20,212,100, while wagering at offtrack sites on the Fort Erie product climbed 28 percent, to $73,540,917 for the 116-day meeting.

VANCOUVER, British Columbia - Going into the 2001 racing season at Hastings Park, Lord Nelson and I'm Free were just a couple of nice horses that had shown a lot of potential. After a combined eight stakes wins last year, they figure to battle it out for divisional honors this season. They will face each other in Sunday's George Royal Stakes.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Trainer Mike Wright Jr. was prepared to send Exclusive Run in Saturday's seven-furlong Vigil Handicap. But Exclusive Run first was entered in a 1 1/16-mile allowance race on the same program, and when that race filled the Vigil became an afterthought.

The classified allowance is billed as the prep for the Grade 3, $150,000 Eclipse Handicap. If Exclusive Run performs up to expectations Saturday, he should be seeking his first Ontario stakes victory in the May 11 Eclipse.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - It would be folly to equate fast works preceding the Kentucky Derby with fast races on Derby Day. It is the way a horse works here that is important, not necessarily the time, and workouts are only a piece of the handicapping puzzle.

That said, it is still preferable to see a horse working well as he nears the Derby. And it seems as though Harlan's Holiday, the expected favorite for the 128th Kentucky Derby on May 4, is training as well as ever.

LEXINGTON, Ky. - She already did it once. But asking Bold World to run in two stakes within a few days' time would be overkill - which is just as well, as far as trainer Ron Taylor is concerned.

Taylor, who trains Bold World for Amy Tarrant's Hardacre Farm, said a special set of circumstances allowed Bold World to win the Ocala Breeders' Sales Sprint on March 18 and the Charon Stakes at Gulfstream four days later. Neither race, said Taylor, was particularly demanding, and considering the way Bold World galloped to victory in both races, neither was particularly taxing.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Line Rider, a pacesetter for Johannesburg in Europe last year, closed from off the pace to win Wednesday's Harry Henson Stakes, the opening day feature of the Hollywood Park spring-summer meeting.

Sent off as the slight favorite, Line Rider ($8) finished 5 1/2 furlongs on turf in 1:02.97. Ridden by Mike Smith, Line Rider rallied four wide through the stretch to take the lead in the final 50 yards. Ecstatic and Mighty David finished in a dead heat for second in the field of 10 3-year-olds.

TORONTO, Ontario - A 3-year-old gelding who has been racing as Sir Albadou actually is a horse now known as Barb's Boy, according to an Ontario Racing Commission ruling issued this week.

The ORC launched an investigation into Sir Albadou's identity after a discrepancy was discovered at Turfway Park, where the horse ran three times last winter after starting twice at Woodbine and once at Fort Erie last fall.

"The horse identifier there didn't like the way the horse's markings matched up to his foal certificate," said Nelson Ham, an ORC steward.

Team Lukas sends out solid favorite and fastest qualifier Check Him Out in the Grade 2, $155,400 El Primero Del Ano Derby on Friday night at Los Alamitos.

Check Him Out, owned by D. Wayne Lukas and Zory Kuzyk, is trained by Laura Lukas.

Check Him Out, winner of the Grade 1 Ed Burke Memorial Futurity, started his 2002 campaign in eye-catching fashion, winning his El Primero Del Ano Derby trial by a length with a 19.865-second time for the 400 yards, the quickest clocking among three trials held on April 12.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - You had a terrific work Wednesday morning at Churchill Downs, going six furlongs in 1:13.20 over a fast track. Next Friday she will attempt to give Hall of Fame trainer Bobby Frankel his third Kentucky Oaks victory in the last five runnings.

Frankel, who won the Oaks in 1998 with Keeper Hill and last year with Flute, said You is "doing as good as any filly I've had coming into this race. She's really getting over this track good."