Expect the first four finishers from the Mineshaft Handicap last Saturday to return in the $400,000 New Orleans Handicap on March 27.

The promising 3-year-old colt Maximus Ruler will miss the Louisiana Derby, and won't race again until late spring or early summer, trainer Clark Hanna said Wednesday afternoon.

Maximus Ruler, who won his maiden in an allowance race at Churchill Downs last fall, had been pointed to last Saturday's Risen Star Stakes after finishing second in the Jan. 23 Lecomte Stakes, but was withdrawn from Risen Star consideration five days before the race with what Hanna believed was a bruised hoof.

ARCADIA, Calif. - Outlaw Man will try a synthetic track and a stakes for the first time in Saturday's $150,000 Sham Stakes at Santa Anita. While it may seem as if trainer Kenneth McPeek and his team are demanding a lot from the 3-year-old, their timing could be ideal.

The Grade 3 Sham Stakes lacks a standout and Outlaw Man could earn a spot in another Kentucky Derby prep with a strong effort.

"I've been around him since he was a young 2-year-old," assistant trainer Jordan Blair said. "He's more professional now than he's ever been. He's kind of getting it figured out.

Trainer Mark Casse is willing to ship Pool Play across the United States in search of a big prize on a synthetic track.

Based in Florida, Pool Play is a candidate for the $750,000 Santa Anita Handicap on March 6 after showing an affinity for synthetic tracks at Woodbine last year, Casse said on Wednesday.

"He likes the synthetics and a mile and a quarter will not be a problem," Casse said by telephone.

Turfway officials are expecting at least nine 3-year-olds to run Saturday in the $100,000 John Battaglia Memorial, the local prep for the Grade 2 Lane's End.

Kera's Kitten, winner of the Jan. 30 WEBN Stakes for trainer Mike Maker, and Codoy, making his first start since the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf, are the likely favorites in the 1 1/16-mile race. Other probable starters are Fish, In the Paint, Justamatteroftime, Lucky Chuck, Pathoki, Slewzoom, and Vow to Wager.

The virtues of being stabled at a private training center were manifested last Saturday at Turfway Park when the top three finishers in the Valdale Stakes all turned out to be shippers from the High Pointe Training Center in LaGrange, Ky.

Helen Belen, Hot Citizen, and Offlee Funny all were vanned the hour or so it takes to travel north on Interstate 71 from High Pointe to Turfway in Florence, Ky.

Bill Denzik Jr., who trains Helen Belen, has been stabled at High Pointe for the last eight years.

COLUMBUS, Neb. - Racing in Nebraska averted a potentially crippling blow Monday night when the Platte County Agricultural Society Board voted to proceed with plans to put on a 2010 Columbus race meet from July 30 to Sept. 12.

About 100 supporters, including horsemen, Columbus residents, and representatives from the Chamber of Commerce, attended the agricultural board's meeting, with former board members and the general public urging the board to give their authorization to move forward with the race meet.

Horse of the Year Rachel Alexandra was back at work Wednesday morning at Fair Grounds, where she breezed six furlongs in 1:14, her longest work of 2010, and another significant step toward her intended comeback race on March 13 in New Orleans.

Uh Oh Bango will be one of a number of new shooters for the Grade 3, $300,000 Rebel on March 13, which is the next local stop on the road to the Arkansas Derby. Trainer Kory Owens said the plan is for the horse to arrive here from Turf Paradise later this week.

Uh Oh Bango was freshened after his last start, the Grade 3, $750,000 Delta Jackpot on Dec. 4, in which he finished second by a neck to Rule. He battled through the stretch with Rule, who earlier this month was a big winner of the Grade 3 Sam F. Davis at Tampa Bay Downs.

Trainer Terry Vance has been suspended six months by the Delta Downs board of stewards after one of his horses tested positive for the Class 2 drug Ractopamine. He has appealed the ruling, according to the stewards, and the case has been referred to the Louisiana Racing Commission. It is scheduled to be heard at the panel's meeting on March 1.