Buckets, who makes his stakes debut Sunday in the Grade 3 $300,000 Oklahoma Derby at Remington Park, was part of trainer John Ward's "A" team of 2-year-olds last year before his development was delayed by a training accident. That "A" team included Monarchos, who won this year's Kentucky Derby and Florida Derby, and Hero's Tribute, who won the Grade 2 Peter Pan.

MIAMI - Sunday's $32,000 Delta Love Stakes for 3-year-old fillies has drawn two of the premier members of the division stabled here this summer, Valid Forbes and Happily Unbridled.

Unfortunately, the race is scheduled on the turf, and unless Mother Nature intervenes and forces management to switch the overnight event to the main track, neither of those fillies will run.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - It wasn't exactly a swan song befitting a champion. But Deputy Inxs, who finished last of seven under allowance terms at Woodbine last Saturday, leaves no regrets as he settles down to a life of retirement.

"I said before the race that if he doesn't run good we'll pull his shoes, and send him home," said trainer Audre Cappuccitti, who also owns the 10-year-old Deputy Inxs in partnership with her husband, Gordon.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y.- Tommy Voss wasn't sure what to expect when he entered John's Call in last year's Sword Dancer Invitational. The last thing he expected to see was a 9-year-old gelding win by 9 3/4 lengths.

"Here we are 9 years old going in our first Grade 1 with the horse," Voss said. "He always ran well, he always tried. But to win like that, my jaw dropped. Just amazing."

The richest racing in the country on Saturday is at Saratoga, where $877,000 is being awarded over 10 races. The second richest racing is taking place at an unexpected location - in Chester, West Virginia at Mountaineer Park, a track that in the mid-1990's averaged $22,000 per day in purses.

Saturday is West Virginia Derby Night at Mountaineer. Bolstered by slot machine revenue, $875,000 in purses is up for grabs during the nine-race card, which includes the $500,000 West Virginia Derby and five supporting stakes.

DEL MAR, Calif. - As Saturday's $150,000 La Jolla Handicap at Del Mar drew closer, Romanceishope went from being a leading contender to inheriting the favorite's role.

With the defections of stakes winners Bayou the Moon and Dr. Park to the Del Mar Derby on Sept. 3, Romanceishope can win his graded stakes debut in the Grade 3 La Jolla, run for 3-year-olds over 1 1/16 miles.

At one time, such a prize seemed remote to trainer Jenine Sahadi.

HENDERSON, Ky. - For a few hours Saturday, Ellis Park will step out of its typecasted role as a rural Thoroughbred outpost and stage a brand of racing that would be welcome at any racetrack anywhere.

Not only will such capable mares as Rose of Zollern, Royal Fair, and Asher clash in the premier race of the meet, the $200,000 Gardenia Stakes, but some excellent sprinters also will knock heads in the secondary feature, the $100,000 Ellis Park Breeders' Cup Stakes.

HENDERSON, Ky. - Veteran jockey Shane Sellers, away since December with a serious knee injury, is hoping to return to action as soon as Sept. 1 and has been exercising horses at Churchill Downs on a daily basis.

Sellers, a perennial leading rider in Kentucky and elsewhere, underwent surgery to repair a severely torn anterior cruciate ligament several weeks after an accident at the Fair Grounds on Dec. 9.

HENDERSON, Ky. - If all his mounts were as reliable as Miss Seffens, Jon Court's life would be even more pleasurable than it already is.

"She and I have had a lot of success together," said Court, the three-time defending champion rider at Ellis Park. "We seem to have an understanding of each other."

Entries for the Grade 3, $300,000 Oklahoma Derby were taken Thursday using a new system developed by officials at Magna Entertainment, parent company of Remington Park in Oklahoma City. The Oklahoma Derby, formerly known as the Remington Park Derby, will be run Sunday.

The 1 1/8-mile race drew a field of six, and from the rail the entrants are: Unbridled Time, to be ridden by Greta Kuntzweiler; Devout Sinner, Cliff Berry; Rockchalk Jayhawk, Don Pettin-ger; Buckets, Jon Court; Top Hit, Garrett Gomez; and Compendium, Donnie Meche.