SASKATOON, Saskatchewan - From the death of leading rider Isiah Sala to the 14-race win streak by rider Tim Moccasin, the 2001 meeting at Marquis Downs will not soon be forgotten.

Sala, a 23-year-old native of New Jersey, was enjoying great success in his first year here and was 12 wins ahead of his closest rival when the unthinkable occurred.

On Aug. 17 Sala's mount, Twilight Deputy, clipped heels and Sala was thrown to the track. He was pronounced dead from massive head injuries about six hours later, without regaining consciousness.

VANCOUVER, British Columbia - For a horse that was merely an afterthought, Fancy As has turned out to be much better than "just a horse to fill the van."

Red Smith, part-owner and trainer of Fancy As, was left with an open slot in his six-horse trailer when he was heading home from racing in Manitoba in 1999. Not wanting to go home without a full load, Smith made a last-minute decision to bid $3,200 on a good looking Manitoba bred colt by Dignitas in the Manitoba yearling sale.

SAN MATEO, Calif. - A strong field of 11 3-year-olds lines up in Saturday's $50,000-added Half Moon Bay Stakes at Bay Meadows. The 1 1/16-mile turf race is the final local prep for the Grade 3 Bay Meadows Derby, which will be run at nine furlongs over the turf on Nov. 4.

Four stakes winners are in the Half Moon Bay: Sir Alfred, winner of the Grade 3 Ascot Handicap; Takin It Deep, victorious in the $200,000 California Derby; Jade Green, winner of the Tacoma Stakes at Emerald; and I'madrifter, who won the Gold Rush Stakes earlier this year.

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. - When Meadowlands officials moved their biggest race two weeks earlier in the meet, they were hoping to attract Breeders' Cup Classic contenders. That's exactly what they will get Friday night when Include and Broken Vow join four other horses in the $500,000, Grade 2 Meadowlands Cup.

EDMONTON, Alberta - The racing season at Northlands Park is heading down the homestretch, and horsemen are examining their options.

Only one stakes race remains, the $50,000 Canadian Juvenile for 2-year-olds at 1 1/16 miles Oct. 13.

So Alberta-based horsemen such as trainer Red Smith are looking elsewhere. And on Saturday, he will saddle Fancy As at Hastings Park in the British Columbia Derby.

Fancy As already has won the Alberta and Canadian Derbies, and was runner-up in the Manitoba Derby.

Trainer Joe Orseno decided Wednesday morning to ship Macho Uno to Cleveland after all, meaning Saturday's $300,000 Ohio Derby will indeed have the marquee name Thistledown officials had sought.

Macho Uno, the 2-year-old champion of last year, had suffered from a bout of colic Saturday night, which had put his status for the Grade 2 Ohio Derby in question. But Orseno said Wednesday at Belmont Park that he was satisfied that nothing was amiss.

ARCADIA, Calif. - A choice that trainer Mike Harrington made about Sharper Too during the summer turned out to be one of his best calls of the year.

In August, Harrington considered putting Sharper Too in a claiming race. When he realized that the colt could be taken, he changed his mind. Sharper Too went on to win the I'm Smokin Stakes for statebreds on Sept. 3.

On Friday, Sharper Too will be a heavy favorite in the colts and geldings division of the $100,000 California Sires Stakes over seven furlongs at Santa Anita.

ARCADIA, Calif. - Trainer Richard Mandella may be left with an empty feeling if he wins a turf stakes at Santa Anita this weekend.

Mandella has starters in several important stakes at Santa Anita over the next two weekends, but is not using all those races as a springboard to the World Thoroughbred Championships at Belmont Park on Oct. 27.

ELMONT, N.Y. - King Cugat looms a heavy favorite in the Turf Classic Invitational, and England's Legend squares off against Starine and European star Lailani in the Flower Bowl Invitational in the two Grade 1, $750,000 Breeders' Cup preps at Belmont on Saturday.

Saturday's 10-race card also includes the Grade 2, $125,000 Gallant Bloom Handicap, featuring Dream Supreme and Dat You Miz Blue.

Fields were drawn for all three races on Wednesday because Belmont Park was to be closed Thursday in observance of Yom Kippur.

ELMONT, N.Y. - The six sprinters who meet in Friday's eighth race at Belmont Park, a $54,000 allowance, are not headed to the World Thoroughbred Championships, but they are an accomplished group in their own right, with 31 races won and $1.4 million earned among them.

Favoritism in the seven-furlong race figures to fall to one of two Richard Dutrow Jr.-trained runners. Dutrow entered Here's Zealous and Burning Marque and named John Velazquez on both, which means only one can run.