Fascinatin’ Rhythm was no match for either Five Diamonds or Sweet Goodbye when they met two months ago in the six-furlong What a Summer. But after turning in one of the fastest races of her career in last month’s Grade 2 Barbara Fritchie Handicap, followed by a bullet four-furlong workout last week, the 6-year-old Fascinatin’ Rhythm was in peak form for Saturday’s $75,000 Conniver Stakes at Laurel Park.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - The Gulfstream Park stall office reported Saturday that Gourmet Dinner, runner-up in the Grade 2 Fountain of Youth Stakes here on Feb. 26 and a possible candidate for the Grade 1 Florida Derby on April 3, shipped off the grounds early Friday evening with the destination on the transit slip listed as Ocala, Fla.

Dancinginherdream and I's Tricky, a couple of talented 3-year-old fillies and potential candidates for the Grade 2 Gulfstream Park Oaks, formerly the Bonnie Miss, worked Saturday at Palm Meadows.

ARCADIA, Calif. – The Factor and Sway Away, who finished one-two in last month’s San Vicente Stakes, kept on similar itineraries Saturday morning here at Santa Anita when they turned in final workouts in preparation for scheduled starts in the Rebel Stakes for 3-year-olds next Saturday at Oaklawn Park.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla.– Trainer Eddie Kenneally worked his Derby candidate Santiva an easy five furlongs in 1:02 at Palm Meadows on Saturday, then confirmed his intention to point the Grade 2 winner for the Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland rather than the $1 million Louisiana Derby as originally planned.

As a 3-year-old, Despite the Odds was good enough to win the Grade 3 Hill Prince Stakes at Belmont Park, finish second in a pair of two-turn stakes at Monmouth Park, and place fourth despite a troubled trip in the Grade 1 King’s Bishop at Saratoga.

Not much has gone right for Despite the Odds since then, but the now 5-year-old seems to be rounding back into form for the second start of his current form cycle in Tuesday’s $75,000 Bensalem Stakes at Parx Racing.

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - Jockey Michael Baze has been fined $500 by the Oaklawn Park board of stewards for failing a breathalyzer test on Friday. He was taken off all his Friday mounts. The ruling was issued on Saturday.

Jay Fedor, who is Baze’s agent, said neither he nor Baze had a comment.

Baze is scheduled to ride at Oaklawn on Saturday, among his mounts is Rigoletta in the Grade 3, $125,000 Honeybee Stakes and It Happened Again in the Grade 3, $125,000 Razorback Handicap.

As of Saturday, March 12, when the grassy Grindstone Stakes was scheduled to be contested, Fair Grounds hadn’t run a turf race since Feb. 28, but a sustained spell of dry weather has turned the turf course viable again, and Monday’s featured eighth race stands a good chance of actually staying on grass.

Of all the distress cries heard throughout Illinois racing – and there are plenty right now – the most plaintive come from Fairmount Park. Fairmount has cut fat and trimmed excess for years, and the track opens its doors for a 2011 racing season Tuesday still hoping for some kind of financial lifeline.

A step in the direction of the Kentucky Oaks is what trainer Mark Casse is seeking Monday at the annual Day of Champions in Ocala, Fla. Casse will send out Delightful Mary and Silent Moon, both owned by John Oxley, in the filly division of the Ocala Breeders’ Sales Championship.

“Hopefully they’ll both run well, and we can really start thinking about having three fillies in the Oaks for Mr. Oxley,” said Casse