ELMONT, N.Y. - , the champion female turf horse of 2000 who suffered a tendon injury in her last start, has been retired, according to her trainer, Joe Orseno.

Perfect Sting, 5, sustained torn fibers in the tendon of her right foreleg when she finished sixth against colts in the Grade 1 Manhattan Handicap at Belmont on June 9. She was sent to owner Frank Stronach's farm in Ocala, Fla., for recuperation. Although Orseno said Perfect Sting could make a full recovery, she wouldn't be ready in time to defend her title in the Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf in October.

DEL MAR, Calif. - Trying to judge trainer Jim Chapman's plans with Caller One has been something of a poker game this year for racing secretaries, jockey agents, and handicappers.

Caller One, who won the $2 million Golden Shaheen in Dubai in March, is expected to start in Sunday's $200,000 Bing Crosby Breeders' Cup Handicap at Del Mar against Kona Gold, the 2000 champion sprinter.

Such a matchup is a mouthwatering confrontation for racing fans, a preview of the Breeders' Cup Sprint at Belmont Park in October.

DEL MAR, Calif. - It was opening day at Del Mar Wednesday, and Lowell Smith had already lost his head.

It was buried, somewhere beneath a towering edifice that masqueraded as a hat. The hat featured four horses breaking from the starting gate, with "Away They Go 2001" emblazoned across the front of the faux starting gate.

Smith, a resident of the San Diego suburb of Bay Park, decided to get into the mood for his 17th consecutive opening day at Del Mar. He took a vacation day from work, and headed to the track with his wife.

When Dave Vance was the second-leading trainer at Delaware Park in 1981, trailing only Bud Delp, he never imagined that he would return 20 years later on a private jet to saddle a heavy favorite for one of the track's most prestigious races.

But when Vance returns Saturday to Stanton, Del., to run Caressing in the $250,000 Delaware Oaks, that's just what he'll be doing. He and Carl Pollard, owner of Caressing, will be flown in on Pollard's jet from Louisville, where both men live.

ELMONT, N.Y. - Six weeks ago, a lightly raced 3-year-old filly from the John Ward stable shocked a strong field in the Grade 1 Acorn to win at odds of 50-1.

Saturday, another Ward-trained 3-year-old filly with only two starts under her belt will try to upset a decent field in the Grade 1 Coaching Club American Oaks at 12 furlongs at Belmont Park. Can Ten Flags do Saturday what Forest Secrets did six weeks ago?

"I don't know if you could ever get that lucky twice," said Donna Ward, assistant to and wife of John Ward.

WINNIPEG, Manitoba - Friday's Manitoba Quarter Horse Derby is the first of 13 Quarter Horse races to be run at Assiniboia Downs this year. The 400-yard race for 3-year-olds bred in Manitoba carries a purse of $4,900.

All six of the horses entered raced in the Breeder's Stake Derby at Rossburn Parkland Downs last Saturday.

The winner of that race, Miss Good Catch, will be coupled with Spunky Cusitar on Friday, with Gary Melanson named on both parts of the entry.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Mr. Epperson will be taking his third crack at the Bold Venture Saturday at Woodbine.

And Mr. Epperson, a 6-year-old gelding who earned his first stakes victory in his 38th and most recent start here in the Nearctic, should be firing his best shot once again in this 6 1/2-furlong handicap.

"He's doing exceptionally well," said trainer Scott Fairlie. "He's on a confidence roll."

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. - Duckhorn's reputation has grown since his last trip to Chicago. When he starts Saturday at Arlington the $400,000 Washington Park Handicap, his odds won't be anywhere near 12-1, as they were when he upset the $500,000 Hawthorne Gold Cup in June.

MIAMI - The second annual Summit of Speed program at Calder was highlighted by four major races packed with graded-stakes caliber horses, and by Dream Supreme, who performed as advertised, winning the $400,000 Princess Rooney Handicap in a cakewalk.

But there are two issues Calder must address: the precipitous drop in handle from the inaugural Summit of Speed last year, and the disappointing showing by local horses in the major stakes.

OMAHA, Neb. - Six years ago when Ak-Sar-Ben closed, live horse racing in Nebraska was all but dead.

And then came Horsemen's Park, and Omaha was back in the racing game. Well, sort of.

Omaha won't be a racing hot spot anytime soon, but Horsemen's Park has accomplished what its creators, the Horsemen's Benevolent Protective Association, intended when the track opened on Jan. 3, 1998: It has kept live racing alive in Nebraska.

"Since 1998," said Horsemen's Park president Dick Moore, "we've contributed over $5 million to the horse racing industry in Nebraska."