Fair Grounds will open its racetrack on Tuesday afternoon to allow a workout by the 2009 Horse of the Year, Rachel Alexandra, according to the track's general manager, Eric Halstrom.

Rachel Alexandra had been scheduled for a major six-furlong drill early Tuesday morning, but heavy rain hit Fair Grounds late Monday afternoon, and with wet weather possible through the evening, Fair Grounds will make special arrangements to ensure Rachel breezes over a suitable racing surface.

"We're going to open training regularly, but she's going to work about 3 o'clock," Halstrom said.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Though a lot of thought went into formalizing a plan to get Awesome Act back to North America for a potential run at the spring classics, nothing has gone according to script for the 3-year-old son of Awesome Again.

A late-afternoon downpour in New Orleans forced the cancellation of Monday's two final races at Fair Grounds Race Course.

As heavy rain fell, horses were being loaded into the gate for race 9 when the decision was made to return the horses to the paddock. Shortly thereafter, the announcement came that races 9 and 10 had been canceled.

Portions of the Fair Grounds main track have in the past washed away during extremely heavy rain, making for dangerous conditions.

The Louisiana Racing Commission on Monday approved a request by Louisiana Downs to open and close its upcoming Thoroughbred meet earlier than scheduled. The Bossier City, La., track will now open on May 1 and run through Sept. 26, said Trent McIntosh, the director of racing operations for Louisiana Downs. The season will be 84 days in length, the same duration as the track's original schedule of May 29 through Oct. 17.

Louisiana Downs will race Thursday through Sunday, except for the first two weeks of the meet, when the track will race only on Saturday and Sunday.

ARCADIA, Calif. - In a reversal of a January announcement that the Pro-Ride surface would be replaced at the conclusion of the winter meet, Santa Anita will keep the surface in place for the time being, Frank Stronach, the chairman of the two companies that control the track, said on Sunday.

Stronach said that to replace the main track under current conditions would be "throwing money down in an open pit" unless he were allowed to run the track with less regulation from the state.

ARCADIA, Calif. - Forgive Mike Pender if he seems a little overwhelmed at Santa Anita this week.

Saturday's $750,000 Santa Anita Handicap is quickly approaching, and Pender has an excellent chance to win his first Grade 1 with Jeranimo.

Already at this meeting, Jeranimo has provided Pender and owner B.J. Wright with their biggest win in racing, in the $200,000 Strub Stakes on Feb. 13. The reality of having a contender in the Big Cap is slowly sinking in for Pender.

ARCADIA, Calif. - The Sham Stakes, postponed after the cancellation of last Saturday's nine-race program because of poor drainage on Santa Anita's Pro-Ride main track, will be run Saturday. The $150,000 Sham, for 3-year-olds, is one of five stakes on a card that includes the Big Cap.

Santa Anita endured three inches of rain from late Friday through Saturday, according to track superintendent Richard Tedesco. It was the fifth time at the meeting that racing was lost to wet weather.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - The 3-year-old Pulsion remains a work in progress for trainer Patrick Biancone. The job would be a lot easier if only Pulsion could make it through the opening quarter-mile of his races without finding any trouble.

Pulsion was eliminated and suffered some scrapes and bruises entering the first turn of the Breeders' Cup Juvenile, then encountered similar trouble when making his 3-year-old debut here at Gulfstream Park in the . Biancone hopes for a cleaner trip when Pulsion faces his next important test in the Grade 1 Florida Derby on March 20.

Elusive Warning, who began his career three years ago with two smashing victories over Aqueduct's inner track, will return to New York for Saturday's Grade 3, $100,000 Toboggan Stakes at six furlongs.

Now 6, Elusive Warning will be making just the ninth start of his career in the Toboggan. When right, Elusive Warning has displayed immense talent. He won his first two starts by a combined 12 1/2 lengths in 2007. In the winter of 2008, he won a Group 3 race in Dubai and finished second to Diamond Stripes in the Group 2 Godolphin Mile.

OLDSMAR, Fla. - The stretch run of the here Feb. 20, when Karelian bore out in the stretch carrying Gio Ponti outward, put added focus on something that regular observers of turf races here have noted for some time - that in an unusually high number of turf races, some horses bear to the outside in the stretch as they cross the indentations left by the mowing tractor's wheels where the infield chute joins the main course.