ETOBICOKE, Ontario - On the Game has done little wrong in his four-race career. Now he attempts to take his game into a more testing arena, in the Sept. 29 Ohio Derby at Thistledown, where he will meet Breeders' Cup Juvenile and Eclipse Award winner Macho Uno.

ELMONT, N.Y. - Ten days after the last race was run at Belmont Park, racing returned to the New York area Wednesday afternoon.

Located less than 20 miles from where the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center once stood visible in the distance, life began to return to normal at Belmont Park, which last week served as a staging area for fire units and relief equipment from throughout Long Island.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - In the two decades since he came to the United States from his native Ireland, trainer Niall O'Callaghan has earned quite a reputation as a glad-hander. On any given Saturday, in any given racetrack paddock before any given stakes race, O'Callaghan can probably be spotted in his finest duds, shaking hands and laughing and generally making his presence known, even when he does not have a horse to saddle.

ELMONT, N.Y. - Descapate would have been the likely favorite had she run in a second-level allowance race at Belmont Park last Wednesday, but the card was canceled after the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center. Thursday she will run outside her eligible conditions, but should still be a major player in a third-level allowance.

A field of seven fillies and mares, 3 years old and upward, was entered in the mile dirt race.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Dancethruthedawn, who in June became only the fourth filly ever to win both the Canadian Oaks and Queen's Plate, will not run again this season.

"She's had a hard campaign, and she's run well," said trainer Mark Frostad, who earlier had mentioned Dancethruthedawn as a possible entrant in the Oct. 6 Cotillion at Philadelphia Park.

"It's like she's over the top, a little bit. We're just backing off, giving her some easy time. She'll come back next year. We're in no hurry."

Outofthebox will take a significant step in his comeback on Sunday. A Triple Crown contender this spring after finishing second to eventual Kentucky Derby winner Monarchos in the Grade 1 Florida Derby, Outofthebox missed the classics because of injury and has not raced in graded company since. Outofthebox returns to Grade 1 competition in the $500,000 Super Derby at Louisiana Downs in Bossier City, La., Sunday.

ELMONT, N.Y. - Trainer Todd Pletcher was mulling over a couple of options Tuesday for two of his graded stakes winners, Left Bank and Balto Star, who are nominated to stakes at Belmont Park this weekend.

Pletcher said he had not decided whether he will run Left Bank in Saturday's $300,000 Vosburgh, a Grade 1 prep for the $1 million Breeders' Cup Sprint on Oct. 27, or await the $250,000 Forest Hills Handicap, another prep on Oct. 7.

POMONA, Calif. - Claiming horses regularly win stakes at the Los Angeles County Fair, but the $50,000 Gateway to Glory Stakes on Thursday at Fairplex Park is shaping up as an exception.

The 1 1/16-mile race for 2-year-olds drew a field of six, including four from the claiming ranks. On paper, the race appears to revolve around two horses who have never raced for a tag. One is a colt who won a Fairplex maiden race eight days earlier, and the other a shipper from Arapahoe Park who may be best of a weak lot.

CHICAGO - Two fillies from the fringes of Thoroughbred society have found their way to trainer Steve Asmussen's barn, and so far, neither has had trouble fitting into blue-blooded circles. While the Michigan-bred 2-year-old filly Cashier's Dream trains her way toward the Grade 1 Frizette next month, the Indiana-bred Miss Indiana will ship from Asmussen's Belmont string to Arlington for Saturday's Grade 3 Arlington-Washington Lassie, Chicago's most important 2-year-old filly race of the year.

SAN MATEO, Calif. - Last Reputation, who beat much tougher the last time she sprinted on the turf, heads a field of five fillies and mares in the $34,000 allowance/$40,000 optional claiming feature at 4 1/2 furlongs on the grass Thursday at Bay Meadows.