MIAMI - The steeplechase set will be out in force Sunday at Calder with a pair of races carded over the fences, including the third running of the Grade 3, $50,000 Tropical Park Steeplechase Handicap.

The Tropical Park Steeplechase has been the final race on the National Steeplechase Association's stakes schedule since its inception in 1999. Sunday will be the first time that Calder will present a second jump race on its program, a conditioned allowance with a $25,000 purse. Both steeple-chase races will be decided at 2 1/4 miles.

NEW ORLEANS - It's not exactly as trainer Neil Howard planned, but a race on turf will have to do. Rock Slide, a late-blooming 3-year-old colt that Howard hopes will become a force in the handicap ranks next year, makes his Fair Grounds debut Sunday in a third-level turf allowance.

FLORENCE, Ky. - Successful jockeys generally have outstanding physical attributes, such as agile hands, strong legs, terrific balance, and keen vision.

Jockey Jimmy Lopez has been blessed with all of those, along with another outstanding attribute: good ears.

"Being able to listen and put what you've heard into into your riding, that's a big thing," said Lopez.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Wagering from all sources on Woodbine's 165-day Thoroughbred meeting has checked in at $344 million, a healthy increase from the $293 million total last year.

The Woodbine Entertainment Group, in a press release late Thursday afternoon, noted the daily average handle from all sources on live Woodbine racing was $2,085,756, an increase of 14 percent.

JAMAICA, N.Y. - It remains to be seen if her nine stakes wins this year and runner-up performance in the Breeders' Cup Sprint will be enough to earn Xtra Heat an Eclipse Award as the nation's outstanding 3-year-old filly.

But her trainer, John Salzman, may have earned the award for understatement of the year when talking about his speedy filly's chances in Saturday's $75,000 Garland of Roses Handicap at Aqueduct.

"At least we have a little better shot than we did against those colts," Salzman said.

MIAMI - Tijiyr, whose ascent to the upper echelon of the handicap turf division was sidetracked by a chipped ankle earlier this season, will try to take a big step back toward the top when he faces 11 rivals in Saturday's $100,000 Tropical Turf Handicap. The 1 1/8-mile, Grade 3 Tropical Turf highlights the 12-race Grand Slam I program, which also includes the $100,000 My Charmer Handicap, the $100,000 Three Ring Stakes, and the $100,000 What a Pleasure Stakes.

NEW ORLEANS - A day showcasing Louisiana-breds would have a gaping hole if the best Louisiana-bred in training were absent. Though she raced only a week ago, Hallowed Dreams will make her second Louisiana Champions Day appearance when she heads the $100,000 Champions Day Sprint on Saturday at Fair Grounds.

Besides the short down time, Hallowed Dreams faces another serious challenge, Kettle Man, winner of all four of his races this year and the dominant sprinter this summer at Louisiana Downs.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Following the worst performance in her two-year North American career, Keemoon will appreciate the friendly surroundings of Hollywood Park when she defends her title in Saturday's $70,000 Waya Handicap.

After an early-season campaign that included wins in the Bewitch Handicap at Keeneland and Honey Fox Handicap at Del Mar and a second in the Yerba Buena Handicap at Bay Meadows, Keemoon finished 11th in the Grade 1 E.P. Taylor at Woodbine on Sept. 30.

ALBANY, Calif. - Saturday's $55,000-added Golden Poppy Handicap at at Golden Gate Fields is scheduled for 1 1/16 miles on the the Lakeside turf course.

ALBANY, Calif. - Russell Baze won with his first two mounts on Thursday at Golden Gate Fields to reach the 400-victory mark for the ninth time in his career.

Baze, whose best total was 448 in 1995, won 400 for seven straight years from 1992-98. A broken bone in his back limited his victories to 373 in 1999, but he had 412 victories last year. No other rider has recorded 400 victories in a year more than three times.