ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. – The first 14 starts of Lady Chesterfield’s career came on turf (11 races) and dirt (three starts), but it is race number 15 that’s most meaningful in relation to Arlington’s featured second race Wednesday.

Soon after I’ll Have Another won the Robert Lewis Stakes in February, the decision was made to not race him again until the Santa Anita Derby, the theory being he would be fresh not only for that race, but for the Triple Crown series if he was fortunate enough to keep doing well.

That may have seemed wishful thinking at the time. Now, it looks like a brilliant plan, for I’ll Have Another has arrived in New York with a chance to capture the Triple Crown.

It hasn’t taken long for Kenny Smith to get into a good grove at Delaware Park or for bettors to catch on that the string of horses Smith has brought up from Oaklawn Park are all well-meant and ready to run.

Spending his first season at Delaware, Smith is off to a 3-for-9 start and picked up a pair of second-place finishes. Eight of his nine horses have gone off at odds of 3-1 or less. He raced last summer at Prairie Meadows.

Congrats Man looks like the one to beat in a first-level allowance race that will serve as Wednesday’s feature at Northlands Park. The six-furlong sprint for 3-year-olds drew six horses and goes as the eighth race on a nine-race card that begins at 6 p.m. Mountain.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario —The average field size for Wednesday night’s eight-race card at Woodbine is a whopping 11.25 horses, and the pick four, which has a guaranteed pool of $100,000, could pay big.

The featured seventh race, which anchors the pick four, contains Queen’s Plate eligible Ultimate Destiny, who is nominated to the Plate Trial Stakes.

Ultimate Destiny is the lone 3-year-old in the Ontario-sired allowance route for nonwinners of three. He graduated second-time out at 2, before ending up second in the restricted Kingarvie Stakes in late November.

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List of possible starters for the 2012 Belmont Stakes at Belmont Park on June 9. Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner I'll Have Another will try to sweep the Triple Crown. Click horse names to access contender profiles.

All-sources wagering on this year’s Preakness Stakes at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore on Saturday was up 2.5 percent compared to betting on the race last year, according to figures printed on the official charts for the two races.

Including multi-race bets that ended in the Preakness, commingled handle for this year’s race, which had an 11-horse field, was $55,935,707, compared to total commingled betting of $53,385,941 on the 2011 race, which had a full field of 14 horses.

Mark Valeski, who won the Peter Pan Stakes on May 12 and has been considered a top contender for the Belmont Stakes on June 9, is now “doubtful” for the final leg of the Triple Crown, trainer Larry Jones said Monday, citing the colt’s lack of energy since the Peter Pan.

“Mark’s actually doing OK, but he got a little tired after the race,” Jones said Monday from Churchill Downs, where Mark Valeski was sent after the Peter Pan. “He doesn’t have the same energy level. It’s looking like the Belmont is more and more doubtful. He’s not showing a lot of sparkle.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Halo Dolly led throughout Sunday’s $71,750 Fran’s Valentine Stakes for California-bred females, giving trainer Jerry Hollendorfer stakes wins on consecutive days at Betfair Hollywood Park.

Saturday, Hollendorfer won the Grade 3 Railbird Stakes with 10-1 Via Villaggio.

Halo Dolly ($5.40) was the second betting choice in a field of five in the Fran’s Valentine, run over a mile on turf.

The three-time stakes winner Mr. Commons returns from a break of nearly three months in Saturday’s $150,000 American Handicap at Betfair Hollywood Park.

Trained by John Shirreffs for Ian Banwell, Mr. Commons has not started since finishing second to Willyconker in the Grade 1 Frank Kilroe Mile at Santa Anita on March 3. Willyconker is a candidate for the Grade 2 American Handicap, run over a mile on turf.

Earlier at the Santa Anita winter-spring meeting, Mr. Commons won the Grade 3 Sir Beaufort Stakes for 3-year-olds in December and the Grade 2 Arcadia Stakes in February.