JAMAICA, N.Y. - To some, it's a scary thought. To others, it is a howling good time. Whatever the case, for the next six months, New York horseplayers will be getting their tricks and treats at Aqueduct beginning with Wednesday's Halloween Day nine-race card.

With a few exceptions early in the meet, Aqueduct will race Wednesdays through Sundays with first post daily at 12:30 p.m. Eastern. Aqueduct will be open Tuesday, Nov. 5 (Election Day) and Monday, Nov. 11 (Veterans Day) and be closed Wednesdays Nov. 7 and 14.

VANCOUVER, British Columbia - With many horses and horsemen shipping to places like Portland Meadows, Turf Paradise, and northern California, Hastings Park came up short for their last mid-week card of the season. Only six races filled for Wednesday evening and the featured race, an $8,000 conditional sprint for fillies and mares, will go as the last and offers superfecta wagering.

ELMONT, N.Y. - Victory Ride, the Grade 1 Test Stakes winner who suffered a broken right foreleg in August, will resume training in December with the goal of returning to the races next spring, trainer Rusty Arnold said Monday.

STICKNEY, Ill. - It's back. Hawthorne's guaranteed pick six, the bet that sent sharp players around the country scurrying to the windows last spring, returns this fall. The exposure the guaranteed pick six generated for the track in May was great, but the promotion turned rather disastrous when it was hit five times in the meet's first seven days. Without a multiday carryover to enhance the pick six pool, Hawthorne had to cover the guaranteed payoffs itself.

STICKNEY, Ill. - The palatial suburban splendor of Arlington Park is gone for this year. Ringed with grape vines, and the host of the first million-dollar horse race, Arlington has been left behind for the gritty urban area that houses Hawthorne Race Course.

And that's just fine with many local horsemen.

CHICAGO - Running deeper into autumn than it ever had before, Arlington Park experienced significant declines in business during September and October, clouding what otherwise was a successful meet.

Still, Arlington officials were pleased with the core of their 2001 racing season. With two fewer racing dates than last year, Arlington's 101-day meet, which began June 13, was up 3 percent in total handle from $335,567,238 to $345,463,483. Daily all-sources handle averaged $3,420,431, up 5 percent from last year's $3,257,934.

ARCADIA, Calif. - A misplaced cap bearing the Mercedes-Benz logo cost trainer Julio Canani a chance at an even bigger payday Saturday when Val Royal won the Breeders' Cup Mile. Officials from Mercedes-Benz contacted Canani beforehand to arrange for Canani to wear the Mercedes-Benz cap in the televised post-race interview if Val Royal won. According to Canani, the financial incentive was significant.

However, in the chaotic celebration after Val Royal's victory, Canani forgot the cap and left it on the fourth floor of the Belmont Park grandstand. Oops.

A strong field of 10 fillies and mares is entered in Wednesday's featured sixth race. The one-mile, second-level allowance race on the turf will offer a purse of $34,000.

The inside fillies, Miss Ng In Action and Blushing Ballerina, should draw much of the support here. Miss Ng In Action, a lightly campaigned daughter of Gray Slewpy, has made only four starts so far in her career and already has two victories.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Streakin Rob tossed his hat into the ring for consideration as Canada's 2-year-old champion with his upset victory in last Sunday's Coronation Futurity at Woodbine.

Owned by Rob Cudney and Allan Kent, Streakin Rob was winning his first stakes race and the first of the year for his trainer, Jim Day. His victims in the Coronation included Rare Friends, a triple stakes winner while sprinting, and El Soprano, a graded stakes winner on turf.

The victory also more than justified the $7,500 outlay required to supplement Streakin Rob to the race.

VANCOUVER, British Columbia - Horse racing in Vancouver is at a crossroads. Horsemen have been waiting to hear news concerning the sale of Hastings Park to the Woodbine Entertainment Group, hoping that a new operator who is willing to invest in the industry will help turn things around.