NEW ORLEANS - General Quarters is being pointed toward the Grade 3 Mineshaft on Feb. 20 and a probable fourth meeting with Friesan Fire, who beat him by 1 3/4 lengths in the Louisiana Handicap here Jan. 23.

While Friesan Fire has already begun to work toward the Mineshaft, trainer Thomas McCarthy's plan for General Quarters has been to take it slower.

"I walked him for three days after the race, and then started him galloping," McCarthy said Friday, adding that General Quarters was to work a half-mile on Saturday.

Trainer Kiaran McLaughlin said Elusive Warning, an allowance winner here last weekend, could make his next start in the one-mile Gulfstream Park Handicap here on March 13 or the seven-furlong Carter Handicap at Aqueduct on April 3. McLaughlin is looking at the same two races for Grasshopper, who won an allowance race here Wednesday.

McLaughlin also said he had to "back off a little" in his training of Mambo in Seattle, who like Grasshopper was transferred to his barn by owner William Farish during the second half of 2009.

Todd Pletcher, who will run Eskendereya in the Grade 2 Fountain of Youth at Gulfstream Park, has confirmed that he will send another of his Kentucky Derby hopefuls, Rule, to the Sam F. Davis at Tampa next Saturday. Rule, winner of the Grade 3 Delta Jackpot in his 2-year-old finale, is one of several Derby contenders owned by WinStar Farms.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Trainer Wayne Catalano reports that his Eclipse Award winner She Be Wild came out of her fifth-place finish in Sunday's Grade 2 Forward Gal Stakes in good order, but he's not sure where she will run next.

The Forward Gal was She Be Wild's first start since sewing up her title with a victory in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies, and her first ever on dirt.

Catalano said the seven-furlong distance of the Forward Gal was a bit short for She Be Wild, and he wished jockey Julien Leparoux had been more aggressive early in the race.

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - Trainer Lynn Chleborad is coming off one of the best runs of her career and would like to see that momentum carry over at Oaklawn. She has 37 horses on the grounds for the meet.

Crown of Thorns, second by a nose in the Breeders' Cup Sprint here last November, is sore and not in serious training, trainer Richard Mandella said.

Crown of Thorns was diagnosed with a severe throat ulcer after the BC Sprint, which Mandella said would keep the 5-year-old out of action until the spring. Crown of Thorns resumed jogging recently, but Mandella said the horse was "bruised up."

"He had some coming-back pains," he said. "It was nothing serious. He's not going anywhere."

ARCADIA, Calif. - Trainer Carl O'Callaghan is using two California racetracks to prepare his sprint star Kinsale King for the $2 million Golden Shaheen sprint in Dubai on March 27.

O'Callaghan plans to work Kinsale King at Hollywood Park on Sunday and then ship the 5-year-old gelding to Golden Gate Fields for a month. Golden Gate Fields has a Tapeta surface, the same synthetic material in place at the new Meydan racecourse in Dubai where the Golden Shaheen will be run.

At 28, John McKee seems far too young to have already peaked. When he burst onto the racing scene by breaking records at River Downs in 2002 and drawing comparisons to Hall of Fame jockey Pat Day because of his small frame, the sky seemed the limit.

Erilius Vaz, the jockey who punched fellow rider Ademar Santos in the face during the stretch run of a race at Philadelphia Park on Jan. 8, was suspended for 200 days by Philadelphia's stewards on Friday, according to state racing officials. Santos was issued a 90-day suspension for his role in the incident.

Monarchos Cassie cruised to a 3 3/4-length win in the $18,000 City of Roses Handicap on Wednesday at Portland Meadows. Ridden by Troy Stillwell, Monarchos Cassie ($12) outfinished runner-up Gameshy and third-place Eloisa in the mile and 70-yard race.