FORT ERIE, Ontario - Trainer Tom Agosti sent out horses in the two Fort Erie stakes last Monday, even though he felt he had no shot of winning either. So Agosti was pleased when Native Wager won Memorial Stakes for fillies at 12-1 and Right Stop finished third at 55-1 in the Bridgeburg Stakes.

His horses, both 3-year-olds, were taking on older runners in the stakes, both at 1 1/16 miles. But he thought their improving form had earned them a stakes try.

MIAMI - Best of the Rest proved once again Saturday that when healthy and on top of his game he can compete with any handicap horse around. He won the $100,000 Spend a Buck Handicap by 2 3/4 lengths over Dancing Guy. Three-time Grade 1 winner Sir Bear, the 8-5 favorite, finished third.

The Spend a Buck was one of seven stakes at Calder on Festival of the Sun Day on Saturday.

ELMONT, N.Y. - With opportunities to run against their own age group running out and without having to run against the likes of Voodoo Dancer, it was little surprise that 19 3-year-old fillies passed the entry box for Sunday's $100,000, Grade 3 Pebbles Stakes at Belmont Park.

In an effort to accommodate the horsemen, the racing office split the nine-furlong turf race into two divisions. Unfortunately for trainer Thomas Greene, Lady of the Future wound up in the second division, which came up significantly stronger.

LEXINGTON, Ky. - Before she tried some of the best turf fillies and mares in North America, Playact was going good. Trainer Christophe Clement had sent her out to one win and three seconds in her first four starts after arriving from France, but then she took a thrashing behind her much-heralded stablemate England's Legend in the Grade 2 New York Handicap in July.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - The Roger Attfield-trained uncoupled duo of Poetically and Extend both have a shot in Sunday's $112,200 La Lorgnette Stakes, a 1 1/16-mile race for 3-year-old fillies at Woodbine.

Poetically, last year's Canadian champion 2-year-old filly, has suffered through the sophomore jinx this season while going winless in five starts. She was sidelined by a blood disorder in the spring, which caused her to miss important stakes such as the Labatt Woodbine Oaks and Queen's Plate.

ARCADIA, Calif. - It is the perfect weekend for a 3-year-old turf filly to make her U.S. debut. The cream of the division shipped to Keeneland for Saturday's Grade 1 Queen Elizabeth II, leaving the $100,000 Harold C. Ramser Handicap on Sunday at Santa Anita ripe for a well-regarded import.

VANCOUVER, British Columbia - It has been 15 years since Irish Bear accomplished the rare feat of winning both the B.C. Derby and Premier's in the same season. Despite the difficulty of winning both races, Fancy As figures to be a heavy favorite when he takes on older rivals in Sunday's Grade 3 $100,000 Premier's at Hastings Park. Six others have entered the 1 3/8-mile feature, but if Fancy As runs his race, they are probably running for second money.

As a racehorse, Judge T C was an above-average runner, winning the Grade 3 Rebel Stakes at age 3, the Grade 2 Fayette Stakes and Grade 3 Clark Handicap as a 4-year-old, and a pair of Grade 3 handicaps, the Essex and the Kentucky Cup Classic, in his final year of racing at age 5.

Not coincidentally, all his graded stakes success came at distances of either 1 1/16 or 1 1/8 miles. Judge T C appears to have passed on his penchant for route racing to his offspring.

MIAMI - Sejm's Madness, who has run well without winning several times this year, will be favored against nine rivals in Sunday's $35,000 Bill of Rights Handicap.

Sejm's Madness has held his own with some of the top grass horses in Florida and New York this year, at distances ranging from five furlongs to a mile. Yet his only victory in eight tries came via a stewards' disqualification in Gulfstream Park's Yankee Affair Stakes.

VANCOUVER, British Columbia - After closing out his 2-year-old season last year with an impressive win in the Ascot Graduation and the title of champion 2-year-old in British Columbia, Diglett faced great expectations heading into his 3-year-old year. While he has won two stakes and has earned more than $100,000, his trainer, Gary Demorest, considers Diglett's 2001 season "a little disappointing."