AUBURN, Wash. - The 6-year-old stretch-runner Rollette got hot a couple of seasons ago at Golden Gate, winning four of five starts in a streak that culminated with her first stakes victory in the six-furlong Richmond Handicap on Feb. 17, 2001.

VANCOUVER, British Columbia - With the sale of the Pacific Racing Association, operators of Hastings Park, to the Woodbine Entertainment Group, local horsemen are more optimistic about the future of horse racing in the province than they have been for a long time.

David Willmot, CEO of Woodbine Entertainment Group, said the use of technology will help Hastings Entertainment, a wholly owned subsidiary of WEG, regain its share of the gambling market.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Distant Roar, who will make her local debut for Sam-Son Farm and trainer Mark Frostad at Woodbine in Sunday's Fury Stakes, has a couple of tough acts to follow.

The Fury is the primary stakes prep for the June 8 Labatt Woodbine Oaks, a 1 1/8 mile race for Canadian-bred 3-year-old fillies.

Sam-Son Farm and trainer Frostad have won the last two runnings of the Oaks, with Catch the Ring in 2000 and Dancethruthedawn last year.

WINNIPEG, Manitoba - With over 700 horses currently stabled on the Assiniboia Downs backstretch and an influx of new trainers and jockeys, an across-the-board purse increase has had the desired effect for the Manitoba Jockey Club as the 2002 season begins Sunday with an eight-race card.

This year's bottom purse of $6,000 is an increase of $1,000 since last year. Non-conditioned allowance races will carry a purse of $16,000, compared to $12,000 last year, while all stakes races that carried purses of $27,500 in 2001 now will be worth $30,000.

FORT ERIE, Ontario - Francine Villeneuve scored two wins on opening day at Fort Erie last Saturday and one on Sunday, which was enough to gain her a share of first place in the standings with three other riders heading into the second weekend of the meeting.

It also earned Villeneuve the distinction of becoming the winningest female jockey in Canada. She now has 600 wins, one more than Regina Sealock, who also is a member of the Fort Erie colony. Sealock finished fifth on her only mount of the opening three-day week.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Twenty-five years after winning his first Kentucky Oaks at age 22, veteran jockey Chris McCarron captured the filly classic for the third time Friday when Farda Amiga ran down favored Take Charge Lady to post a 20-1 upset at Churchill Downs.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Buddha, the Wood Memorial winner who would have been one of the favorites in Saturday's Kentucky Derby, was scratched from the race Friday morning due to lameness in his left foreleg.

The exact nature of the injury was not known, but it is believed to be a soft-tissue injury of the foot or ankle. It is not believed to be a fracture, according to Dr. Larry Bramlage, the on-call veterinarian from the American Association of Equine Practitioners.

The imperfections of Harlan's Holiday are obvious. He has not run particularly fast this spring, he has been beating the same horse, and a mediocre workout Tuesday fueled speculation the favorite is vulnerable. So be it.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Imagine if the ninth race on Saturday at Churchill Downs were just any old race. Imagine if there were a horse who had won six times and finished second four times in 10 races, had won his last two starts, both key prep races, by a combined eight lengths, and had the benefit of two previous races at Churchill Downs, in which he ran first and second.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - A day after the Team Valor syndicate learned that their Windward Passage was being excluded from the Kentucky Derby due to the late entry of the Bob Baffert-trained Danthebluegrassman, they found a minor consolation.

In Thursday's $112,600 La Troienne Stakes for 3-year-old fillies at Churchill Downs, Cashier's Dream, owned by Team Valor and Bill Heiligbrodt, outfinished the Baffert-trained Shameful after a thrilling stretch run.

"We needed something good to happen," said Team Valor president Barry Irwin.