The Grade 3, $250,000 Gotham, scheduled for March 6, has apparently failed to attract any of the notable 3-year-olds on the Kentucky Derby trail.

Peppi Knows, winner of the Whirlaway, and California-based Tiz Chrome are the only stakes winners currently under consideration for the Gotham, scheduled for 1 1/16 miles over the inner track. Tiz Chrome won the Stuka Stakes at Hollywood Park on Dec. 19 before finishing fourth as the even-money favorite in the Grade 2 Robert Lewis Stakes, his first start around two turns.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. - In a pair of proposed cost-cutting measures, the New York Racing Association is considering eliminating the race-day security barn beginning with the spring meeting at Belmont Park as well as closing the Aqueduct stabling area once the current meet ends.

Some horses stabled at Aqueduct would be moved to Belmont, while others would have the option to stable at Saratoga. There are approximately 500 stalls at Aqueduct. Eliminating the race-day security barn at Belmont would open up about 100 stalls.

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had been pointed to last Saturday's Risen Star Stakes after finishing second in the Jan. 23 Lecomte Stakes, but was withdrawn from Risen Star consideration five days before the race with what Hanna believed was a bruised hoof.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.