FLORENCE, Ky. – The far outside post? Many horsemen will tell you they actually prefer it for a one-turn race. But going two turns? Um, no.

ARCADIA, Calif. – Calidoscopio certainly was the oddest winner of a Breeders’ Cup race at Santa Anita last November.

Not often does a 9-year-old, Argentine-bred horse make his U.S. debut in the Breeders’ Cup and score a 17-1 upset in a race such as the Marathon over 1 3/4 miles on dirt. The performance remains Calidoscopio’s only start in this country. Illness and minor injuries kept him away from expected starts in December, February, and earlier this month.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Fast track or wet, one turn or two, main track or inner, Last Gunfighter has handled it all so far since coming to trainer Chad Brown’s barn last fall.

Saturday, Last Gunfighter gets his first shot at becoming a graded winner while looking to extend his winning streak to five when he meets six rivals – including 2011 Belmont Stakes winner Ruler On Ice – in the Grade 3, $150,000 Excelsior Stakes at Aqueduct.

OLDSMAR, Fla. – The fourth, and final, legs of the Tampa Turf Test will highlight Saturday’s program at Tampa Bay Downs. Twelve colts and geldings and eight fillies and mares were entered in the respective 1  3/8-mile divisions. The starter handicap series is for horses who have started for $16,000 or less in 2012-13.

Last year, a Grade 1 winner emerged from the Bourbonette Oaks on the Spiral undercard at Turfway when the winner, In Lingerie, proceeded to take the Spinster at Keeneland in the fall.

This year, there already is a Grade  1-winning filly in Saturday’s race, Pure Fun, though her presence did little to dissuade horsemen from running 3-year-old fillies against her. A full field of 12 is entered, including Marathon Lady, Le Fascinator, Corporate Culture, Broken Spell, Silsita, and the unbeaten Awesome Mama.

FLORENCE, Ky. – The road to the Kentucky Derby rarely is smooth, as Mark Casse can attest. With a colt named Uncaptured, the trainer hit a detour that has led him to Turfway Park, where on Saturday the track’s showcase event will serve as a critical test for Uncaptured and 11 other Derby hopefuls.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Newsdad had to defeat only three rivals when he captured the 2012 edition of the $150,000 Pan American Handicap. The reigning champion will find the starting gate a lot more crowded when he returns to Gulfstream Park on Saturday to defend his title in the Grade 2 marathon, to be decided at 1 1/2 miles on the turf.

Multiple stakes winner Bold Affair towers over her rivals in Saturday’s $100,000 Conniver Stakes for Maryland-bred fillies and mares at Laurel Park.

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NEW ORLEANS – Trainer Bret Calhoun jokingly called Beverly Belle “a rainmaker,” because several possible races for her at this Fair Grounds meet didn’t fill or were rained off the turf.

If the weather stays dry, Beverly Belle will be running on the turf course Saturday with an opportunity to score a repeat victory in the Red Camelia. Eight older Louisiana-bred fillies and mares are scheduled to run about 1 1/16 miles in the $60,000 feature on an 11-race card.

PHOENIX – It’s not often you get, in essence, to rerun the best race of the meet. But Saturday’s $35,000 Coyote Handicap at Turf Paradise does just that as the one-two-three finishers from the meet’s marquee event, the Phoenix Gold Cup on Feb. 16, go at it once more in this 6 1/2-furlong race. Eight of the best sprinters on the grounds are entered.