HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Alternation established himself as a quality 3-year-old last year when he won the Grade 2 Peter Pan at Belmont Park. But there have long been reasons to believe he would be a better horse at 4, and the time has come to put that theory to the test.

Zagora holds a special place in trainer Chad Brown’s heart, having provided him with the first Grade 1 win of his career when she upset the 2011 Diana at Saratoga. On Saturday, Brown hopes Zagora will take her first step towards possibly an even bigger milestone, a Breeders’ Cup victory, when she launches her 2012 campaign in the Grade 3, $150,000 Endeavour Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs.

Liaison is not the typical offspring of Indian Charlie, says someone who should know, Bob Baffert, who trained Indian Charlie and now has Liaison. And while that might not have made Liaison the most precocious of runners, it may serve him well in the long run. And the runs for Liaison are going to get longer in the next few months.

Prospective will attempt to continue his run through Tampa Bay Downs’s trio of Kentucky Derby preps when he tries to add Saturday’s $250,000 Sam F. Davis Stakes to his impressive victory in the seven-furlong Pasco three weeks earlier.

Prospective tops a field of 11 3-year-olds entered in the 1 1/16-mile, Grade 3 Sam F. Davis, which serves as the final major prep for the track’s marquee event, the Grade 2 Tampa Bay Derby on March 10.

ARCADIA, Calif. – Setsuko made a career of running well, but not winning, top races as a 3- and 4-year-old. Among his five stakes placings, Setsuko was second in the 2010 Santa Anita Derby and second in a roughly-run Santa Anita Handicap last year.

After a last-place finish in the Pacific Classic at Del Mar last summer, owner Alain Wertheimer and trainer Richard Mandella decided to geld Setsuko, after one victory in 16 career starts.

Hunches aside, the WEBN Stakes should go to a horse more apt to advance along Turfway Park’s little north fork of the Kentucky Derby trail than Frankie Is Rock. Although the colt is a natural play in a race long sponsored by the Cincinnati rock-music radio station (102.7 FM), the favorite’s roles should be filled by an uncoupled duo of 3-year-olds from the Mike Maker stable.

ARCADIA, Calif. – The reputation of the 4-year-old turf miler Mr. Commons will only grow in coming months, jockey Mike Smith says.

Smith rides Mr. Commons on Saturday when he tries to beat older horses for the first time in the $150,000 Arcadia Stakes over a mile on turf at Santa Anita. The Grade 2 Arcadia is the third race on a 10-race program, and is not part of the pick six.

“The thing that impresses me more is that we still haven’t seen the best from him,” Smith said. “He’s developing, getting stronger, all the good stuff.

ARCADIA, Calif. – January has been Tapizar’s month at Santa Anita the last two years, with eye-catching wins in the Grade 3 Sham Stakes in 2011 and the Grade 2 San Fernando Stakes last month.

February was not good to Tapizar last year. He finished fifth in the Grade 2 Robert Lewis Stakes and emerged from the race with an injury that kept him sidelined until October.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Five weeks ago, Winning Image came within a neck of upsetting 2-5 favorite Nicole H in the $75,000 Interborough Stakes at Aqueduct.

Michael Aro, the trainer of Winning Image, is expecting a different result Saturday when the two fillies meet again in the $100,000 Correction Stakes at Aqueduct.

“I’ll beat her this time,” Aro said Thursday by phone from Parx Racing. “I know that’s not the best thing to say, but if the track favors speed I don’t think I should have a problem. The biggest edge I have is I’ve got the 7 hole and she has the 1 hole.”

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Endorsement came within days of participating in the 2010 Kentucky Derby, only to be sidelined by a condylar fracture discovered shortly after an impressive workout on the morning entries were to be taken for the race. Now, the talented colt is ready to return to top-level competition once again following his easy 2 1/4-length allowance victory here Wednesday.