NEW ORLEANS – Desert Wheat has been around the block a time or two. How do we know? Well, the race in which he starts on Friday at Fair Grounds, the Mr. Sulu Stakes, is named for a horse against whom Desert Wheat used to compete.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. – Last Sunday, Turbulent Descent won her stakes debut in the Moccasin Stakes for 2-year-old fillies with little effort. She cruised to the front under jockey David Flores, who gave the unbeaten filly a hand ride to the finish of the seven-furlong race.

Turbulent Descent is trained by Mike Puype, who will be after his second stakes win within a week when Bruce’s Dream starts in Saturday’s $250,000 Citation Handicap over 1 1/16 miles on turf.

Bruce’s Dream will not have as easy of a race as Turbulent Descent.

Jockey Chris Landeros is hoping for a solid pace Friday when he teams with Skedee in the $50,000 Ladies on the Lawn at Remington Park. The 7  1/2-furlong race is the first half of a stakes double for Oklahoma-breds on a card that has a special daytime post of 1:30 p.m. Central. Also on deck is the $50,000 Silver Goblin.

Skedee is the defending champ in the Ladies on the Lawn, a turf race for fillies and mares. She will be moving back into the statebred ranks after finishing second in a $65,000 optional claiming race at a mile on turf at Remington on Nov.  11.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. – When Wasted Tears came to California for the first time in August, she won the Grade 2 John Mabee Stakes by a nose at Del Mar, the smallest margin of victory in her 17-race career. Wasted Tears is back on the West Coast for Friday’s $250,000 Matriarch Stakes at Hollywood Park. Winning will not be easy in the Grade 1 race, which has drawn an international field.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Until Super Saver crossed under the line first in the 136th Kentucky Derby nearly seven months ago, it had been 36 years since the winner of the Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes had returned to Churchill Downs to capture the Derby.

With that victory there seems a little added significance to the KJC this year. And with Astrology, the solid favorite in the 84th running of the $150,000 KJC here Saturday, owning an unmistakable Derby pedigree, no one could blame his camp for thinking they might be back here with the colt for the 137th Derby next May.

In past seasons, the Southern California Derby at Los Alamitos was not well-supported, and gaining one of the 10 spots for the final was not very difficult for a horse with a decent level of ability. This year will be different. There are 38 horses in Friday’s four time trials, a record number of entrants. The purse for the Dec. 18 final is estimated at a record $202,500.

A placing in Friday’s trials is vital to have any chance of earning a berth.

“I think you’ll have to run 1-2-3,” said trainer Jose Antonio Flores, who has starters in three trials.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – For more than a month, Qualia has been all dressed up with nowhere to run. Three weeks ago, she failed to crack into the field for the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint. Two weeks ago, an overnight stakes at Aqueduct failed to fill.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – A pretty big deal was made about Charlie Lopresti making it to the Breeders’ Cup earlier this month with two horses. Lopresti trains only 16 head at his Keeneland base, and yet Here Comes Ben and Wise Dan both were legitimate contenders in their respective races.

Funny thing, but neither is the best horse in the barn, according to Lopresti’s careful assessment. That in-house honor would belong to Successful Dan, who will carry high weight of 121 pounds as a major player Friday in the 136th running of the Grade 1 Clark Handicap at Churchill Downs.

Penn National Race Course is seeking to shift its live-racing schedule in 2011 to take advantage of a paucity of night-racing signals on Monday and Tuesday, the track said on Wednesday.

Under the revised schedule, Penn National would conduct 202 days of live racing in 2011, with cards on Friday, Saturday, Monday, and Tuesday. In 2010, the track ran a similar number of live racing dates, but conducted the cards on a Wednesday-through-Saturday schedule.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - The Ontario Racing Commission has allowed an appeal by owner Jamie Attard and has placed his horse Federal Court first in the 10th race here July 31.

Coffee Bar had finished first while Federal Court had run second in the race. There was no inquiry and the result was declared official. Attard filed a protest and notice of appeal based on his belief that Coffee Bar had interefered with Federal Court during the stretch run.