ARCADIA, Calif. - It's not quite Seabiscuit versus Ligaroti, but preliminary discussions are under way at Del Mar for a July 21 match race between the country's top two sprinters - Caller One and Kona Gold. The purse for the six-furlong race would be at least $500,000 and tentatively is scheduled for the first Saturday of the meet.

Trainer Doris Hebert has the horse to beat in two of the three trial races for the $150,000 estimated D.S. "Shine" Young Futurity on Thursday night at Evangeline Downs in Lafayette, La. The five-furlong finale, restricted to 2-year-olds bred in Louisiana, is set for July 3.

The trial races were to be run last Friday night but were canceled because wet weather caused Evangeline Downs's stretch lights to malfunction. The trials are to be run over five furlongs, and the purse for each race is $11,000.

GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas - Trainer Steve Asmussen has a two-fold plan of attack for the $300,000 Dallas Turf Cup at Lone Star Park on Saturday: If he can't beat them early with the front-running Vergennes, he'll try to catch them late with Nat's Big Party.

SAN MATEO, Calif. - Sky High Dancer, a rapidly improving filly who finished second in the Palo Alto Handicap June 2, holds a thin edge over a pair of tough Southern California invaders and three others in the $34,000 allowance feature at 1 1/8 miles on the grass at Bay Meadows Thursday.

The feature will go as the fourth race on an unusually strong weekday program, which is surprising because Bay Meadows is now running concurrently with the San Joaquin County Fair at Stockton and competing with the fair for horses.

The $150,000 Canadian Derby, the richest and most prestigious race at Northlands Park in Edmonton, Alberta, heads a slate of 31 stakes worth a total of $1.38 million at the meeting that starts June 22.

While the purses for the Sale and Filly Sale Stakes have been cut from $62,500 to $50,000, and two Fall Classic Day stakes from $50,000 to $40,000, Alan Bott, racing secretary at Northlands, said the overnight purse structure will be increasing by approximately 30 percent.

AUBURN, Wash. - With a shortage of older horses and an abundance of 2-year-olds on the grounds, it is clear that juveniles will play an increasingly prominent role at the current Emerald Downs meeting.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - The stage is set for an intriguing matchup between the blue-blooded filly Dancethruthedawn and the blue-collar gelding Win City in the $1 million Queen's Plate at Woodbine on June 24.

Dancethruthedawn ran only as hard as she had to to win the 1 1/8-mile Labatt Woodbine Oaks Saturday. After breaking a step slowly, she rallied wide from five lengths back over a speed-conducive track to win by 1 1/2 lengths. Her time of 1:51.74 was good for a 94 Beyer Speed Figure.

ELMONT, N.Y. - Point Given was an overwhelming winner of Saturday's Belmont Stakes, which established him as the clear leader among the nation's 3-year-olds, and a leading contender for Horse of the Year. But the trainers of the race's second- and third-place finishers are still looking forward to rematches in the coming months.

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. - Two summers ago, Arlington Park, the palatial suburban Chicago racetrack, was empty, its doors closed after officials cited unfavorable economic conditions.

So much has changed since then. Arlington raced again last summer and merged with powerful Churchill Downs Inc. last summer. On Wednesday, Arlington launches its 2001 season, its first under the Churchill banner.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Mysterious Affair will try to extend her winning streak to four races Wednesday at Woodbine in the $100,800 Ballade Stakes. Only four other Ontario-sired fillies and mares were entered in the six-furlong dash.

Mysterious Affair's streak began after she ran fourth in the opening-day La Voyageuse Handicap. She upset Torrid Affair with a gutsy performance in the six-furlong Whimsical Stakes April 13, and won the allowance prep for the Grade 3 Hendrie Handicap two weeks later.