VANCOUVER, British Columbia - Heading into the final week of racing at Hastings Park, David Wilson holds a three-win advantage over Mark Patzer in the jockey standings.

PORTLAND, Ore. - Fitness will be at a premium during the early stages of the 80-day Portland Meadows season that opened Saturday.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Not since the fall of 1999 has there been a leading trainer at a Churchill Downs meet.

Co-leading trainers, yes. But a trainer who could claim an outright title? Not since Bobby Barnett overtook Paul McGee in the final few days to win the fall 1999 crown has anyone gone solo.

Spring 2000 resulted in a tie between D. Wayne Lukas and Dale Romans. Fall 2000 ended in a tie between Elliott Walden and Bernie Flint. Spring 2001? Another tie, this one between Romans and Flint.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Take a long, last look, or at least take a picture. The Churchill Downs that racing fans have come to know and love - and sometimes hate - will no longer exist in its current form after the fall meet ends Nov. 24.

A two-phase, $127 million facelift will get under way when the meet ends. When the massive project is completely finished in time for the 2005 Kentucky Derby, Churchill will have a dramatically different look, though one that retains certain traditions, such as the famed Twin Spires.

ELMONT, N.Y. - Shine Again got the better of Dream Supreme in the Grade 1 Ballerina at Saratoga in August and did it again Friday in the $150,000 First Flight Handicap at Belmont Park.

Shine Again, under Jean-Luc Samyn, outgamed Dream Supreme, the 4-5 favorite, in the final yards of the seven-furlong First Flight, a Grade 2, to win by a head. It was another three lengths back to Kalookan Queen in third in the six-horse field of fillies and mares.

GROVE CITY, Ohio - Lady Cherie looks like a standout in a field of nine Ohio-bred fillies and mares in Sunday's $45,000 Bobbie Bricker Memorial Handicap at Beulah Park.

Lady Cherie enters the 1 1/16-mile Bricker off a second-place finish in the $75,000 Best of Ohio Distaff here on Oct. 8. She was beaten 4 1/2 lengths after a wide trip in the 1 1/8-mile race. Lady Cherie, a 4-year-old daughter of Al Sabin, is a multiple stakes winner who has a record of 9-4-1 from 19 starts. She is trained by Michael Nance and has earned $310,700.

Talk about longevity. Sarah Lane's Oates, a 7-year-old turf specialist who has won 21 races and $885,296, will make her fifth appearance in the Old South Handicap at Louisiana Downs, in Bossier City, La., on Sunday. Sarah Lane's Oates has won two runnings of the 1 1/16-mile turf race, which this year is worth $25,000.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - In recent years, the Sky Classic Handicap has served as the major local prep for the Canadian International.

But when the International was moved forward on the Woodbine stakes calendar this year, the Niagara assumed the prep role for the International, and the Sky Classic was scheduled for late in the meeting.

That turn of events could not have been more fortuitous for Dawn Watcher, an up-and-coming 3-year-old who will be seeking his third straight turf win here in Sunday's Sky Classic.

Quarter Horses make an appearance at Louisiana Downs on Sunday when fastest qualifier Mr Mallard goes for his sixth career win in his ninth start in the Grade 1, $218,080 Louisiana Quarter Horse Breeders Association Futurity.

There were 12 trials run over two days, Oct. 11-12, with the five fastest times from each day advancing to the finals.

The search for a winner in the $55,000 Straight Deal Stakes, the lone route among three stakes on Sunday's card at Delaware Park, may lead handicappers to utter a four-letter word - Shag or Brig. Both are coming off stakes victories and have the ability to stalk and pounce in a speed-filled field of 13 fillies and mares.

The Straight Deal, which will be contested at a mile and 70 yards, is supported by a pair of $40,000 stakes for registered Virginia-bred 2-year-olds at six furlongs.