A change of plans by trainer Tom Voss has landed Grade 1 winner John's Call in Saturday's $100,000 Bald Eagle Breeders' Cup Handicap at Pimlico, rather than the $500,000 Man o' War at Belmont Park, the same day.

Voss chose the one-mile Bald Eagle over the 1 3/8-mile Man o' War, a Grade 1, because it's an easier spot for 10-year-old John's Call, who is looking to rebound from finishing ninth and last in the Grade 1 Sword Dancer at Saratoga on Aug. 12.

John's Call, the 122-pound highweight, will be the favorite in the nine-horse Bald Eagle field.

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. - Still licking his wounds after a thrashing in the Grade 2 Saratoga Special, Lunar Bounty races again Saturday at Arlington - the site of his authoritative debut win - where he will be favored to win the $75,000 Spectacular Bid Stakes.

The Spectacular Bid, at six furlongs, is a stepping-stone to the meet's premier race for 2-year-olds, the Grade 2, one-mile Arlington-Washington Furturity, which would be Lunar Bounty's next start with a good race Saturday.

DEL MAR, Calif. - Del Mar rose above the climate of increasingly poor economic news, setting a record for average daily overall handle, and showing a gain in ontrack attendance for its 43-day meeting, which ended Wednesday.

Del Mar averaged $12,055,415 per day in handle, up 3 percent from last year's $11,736,073. The ontrack attendance was up sharply, by 9 percent, from 14,252 last year to 15,546 this year.

Giant Gentleman, the best 3-year-old in Brent Sumja's barn, spent most of the summer recovering from a bout of colic. Now that the colt is healthy again, Sumja is optimistic he can make an impact with some of the best horses in his age group.

Giant Gentleman, a Florida-bred son of Montbrook, returned from a three-month layoff to cruise to an 8 1/2-length win over seven rivals in a nonwinners-of-three allowance at Delaware Park in mid-August. It was his third victory in just four lifetime starts.

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. - It's true that a good horse can surface almost anywhere, but even in the most obscure locales, someone is always watching. That all-encompassing vigilance of the bloodstock business has landed the 2-year-old colt Ammodio at Arlington Park for the $75,000 Spectacular Bid Stakes on Saturday, where he will confound handicappers trying to read his form: One start, a blowout maiden win at Finger Lakes, the tiny oval in upstate New York.

POMONA, Calif. - The 8-year-old veteran Budroyale - Tiznow's older brother - has almost done it all. His 17 wins include graded stakes at Santa Anita, Hollywood Park, and Emerald Downs; he has earned $2.8 million; and he flirted with fame in 1999 when he finished second in the Breeders' Cup Classic.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - American runners Global Vision and Christmas Party drew into the first and possibly tougher division of Saturday's Grade 3 Natalma Stakes at Woodbine, a one-mile turf race for 2-year-old fillies.

Lush Soldier may be the one to beat in the second Natalma split, which is strictly a local affair. Each division is worth $139,250.

As a grand looking yet underachieving import from Europe, Generous Rosi had trainer Niall O'Callaghan looking for ways to fulfill his considerable potential.

Turns out, the answer wasn't that hard to find.

"Took me eight months," a laughing O'Callaghan said earlier this week while preparing Generous Rosi for the $100,000 Turfway Park Fall Championship, a Grade 3 race that will be run Saturday at the Florence, Ky., track.

SALEM, N.H. - Nearly two years have passed since the legislation that governs racing in Massachusetts lapsed. In the absence of new permanent legislation, racing has continued under a series of extensions of the old law.

Suffolk Downs, although unable to finalize a purse structure without new legislation, will proceed as planned with a fall meeting. Opening day will be Saturday, Sept. 29. Racing will continue through Saturday, Dec. 22 on a five-day-a-week schedule, with post time at 12:45 p.m., Thursdays and Sundays will be dark.

Undefeated Shining Sky, whose connections passed on the $1.9 million All American Futurity, will be favored to earn a large paycheck in the Grade 1, $300,900 Sam Houston Futurity on Saturday night at Sam Houston Race Park.

Shining Sky's owners, Bubba Smith and Bill Fowler, who race as B and B Joint Ventures, elected to keep Shining Sky in Texas for the Sam Houston Futurity rather than pay the $50,000 supplemental fee to run in the All American Futurity trials. None of the seven All American Futurity supplements made the Labor Day finals.