In an effort to attract top 3-year-olds to its centerpiece race, Sportsman's Park will award a $1 million bonus to any horse who wins next year's Illinois Derby and then any of the three Triple Crown races, track management has announced.

The $500,000 Illinois Derby, a Grade 2 race, will have its 45th running on April 6. It is the richest race of the 2002 meet at Sportsman's Park in Cicero, Ill.

The Illinois Derby traditionally was run after the Kentucky Derby, but last year was moved to early April because of a change in racing dates for Chicago-area tracks.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Wooden Phone, who upset Tiznow in Santa Anita's Strub Stakes earlier this year, returned from a 6 1/2-month layoff on Wednesday and scored a game victory over stablemate Pie N Burger in the second race at Hollywood Park.

Wooden Phone was on or near the lead every step of the way, and though trainer Bob Baffert said after the race that he feared Wooden Phone "might be a little short," Wooden Phone valiantly held off Pie N Burger to win by a half-length.

Bold Roberta, a game winner in a similar spot last out at Santa Anita, heads a field of 10 older fillies and mares in Friday's featured seventh race, a six-furlong, $32,000 allowance.

Bold Roberta's Santa Anita win was her first of the 2001 season. She sped the six furlongs in 1:09.80 to defeat Our Here Tiz by one length. The 3-year-old Bold Roberta, trained by Carmela Anderson, also raced well in her previous effort at Santa Anita, finishing third beaten just two lengths.

ANDERSON, Ind. - From a handicapping standpoint, and for hunch players, there couldn't be a more clear-cut favorite for Friday's $70,000-added Miss Indiana Stakes than . . . Miss Indiana.

Friday's six-furlong feature drew a field of 12 2-year-old Indiana-bred fillies. Miss Indiana, trained by Steve Asmussen, stands out as the prohibitive favorite.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. - First it was Silver Ending, then Olympic Charmer. Might Olympic Light be the next top runner that Ron McAnally trains for his wife, Debbie?

Olympic Light has displayed plenty of promise in a career that has been punctuated by encouraging performances and lengthy layoffs. He has started twice, with a 4 1/2-month gap between those starts, and returns on Friday night at Hollywood Park for the first time in more than six months.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - With two-thirds of the 24-day Churchill fall meet in the books, Steve Asmussen is a major contender for his first training crown here. He isn't surprised, given the size of his far-flung stable, but initially he believed that he probably did not have enough Churchill-based bullets to shoot for the title.

The all-time winningest jockey at Sam Houston Race Park, Steve Bourque, who ranks in a tie for third in the current standings, will move his tack to Delta Downs in Vinton, La., after he rides his final local card Friday night in Houston.

Bourque's home is about an hour from Delta Downs, which opens Saturday, and with daily purses at that meet expected to be more than doubled to $85,000 from the $35,000 reflected in the first condition book, is financially feasible for the rider to return to Louisiana.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Elektraline, owned by Richard Englander, has checked in from Maryland for Sunday's Grade 3 Bessarabian, a $125,000 handicap for fillies and mares.

Mike Wright Jr., who currently trains a half-dozen horses for Englander here, will be saddling Elektraline for the first time when she tackles the locals over seven furlongs.

A Florida-bred 5-year-old, Elektraline was claimed for $45,000 in March 2000 and has gone on to win four stakes for Englander, including three this year under trainer Scott Lake.

PORTLAND, Ore. - Lethal Grande's surprisingly easy score in the $7,200 Oregon Thoroughbred Breeders Association Sales Stakes Saturday at Portland Meadows put owner and trainer Pat Sonnen in position for a potentially nice payday on Dec. 15, when the Os West Oregon Futurity will be run at a mile.

If Lethal Grande completes the Sales Stakes-Futurity double, Sonnen will collect a $15,000 bonus in addition to the winner's share of the Futurity's $26,010 purse.

Grade 1 winners Feature Mr Jess and Dashin Bye highlight the trials to the Grade 1 $400,000 Texas Classic Derby on Friday night at Lone Star Park.

The horses with the 10 fastest times in the trials will return for the finals on Nov. 30.

Rainbow Derby winner Feature Mr Jess has made four starts this year - all at Ruidoso Downs for trainer Dwayne "Sleepy" Gilbreath. He has responded with three wins and a third in the Grade 1 All American Derby as the even-money favorite.