CALDER NOTEBOOK

Mad Flatter was shipped down to Calder from its base in Kentucky and beat local favorite and defending champion Mambo Meister by 6 1/4 lengths in Saturday's $100,000 Spend A Buck Handicap (Grade 3).  The Spend A Buck was a ``Win and You're In'' race for a berth in the $1 million Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile. That race will be Nov. 6 at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky.

The chance to get in that race was a main reason Mad Flatter ran in the Spend A Buck, according to trainer Jeffrey Thornbury. ``We also liked that his mother [Miss Pangea] won a race by 13 lengths at Calder,'' he said.  Said Bonnie Heath III, a coowner of Mad Flatter: ``With the way he looked [Saturday], we have to think about going [to the Breeders' Cup].''  Bonnie Heath Farm of Reddick and three other racing groups own the 5-year-old Mad Flatter.

The Spend A Buck was Mad Flatter's first race since Sept. 4, when it finished third in the 1 3/16 mile Washington Park Handicap (Grade 3) at Arlington Park in Arlington Heights, Ill.  Mad Flatter was one of several horses that some handicappers expected would battle for the lead in the Spend A Buck.  It did that, in leading Riversrunrylee by a head after a half mile in 47.53 seconds.  After three-quarters of a mile, Mad Flatter, with jockey Jon Kenton Court aboard, had expanded their lead to three lengths in 1:12.41.

Mambo Meister, the 4-5 favorite, had rallied from sixth place to third but could not catch Mad Flatter.

As the 3-1 second choice, Mad Flatter ran 1 1/16 miles in 1:46.37.