STICKNEY, Ill. - Irish import Derek Ryan has won two graded stakes races since he left life as a freelance exercise rider and sometime assistant trainer to train on his own. Emergency Status won the Jersey Derby in 2002, and Musket Man won the Tampa Bay Derby on March 14.

"I'm 2 for 2 in derbies," Ryan said.

Three for three looms a distinct possibility, as well, with Musket Man one of the principal players in Saturday's Grade 2, $500,000 Illinois Derby at Hawthorne. Another big race, and Ryan might find himself in the Derby - the one in Kentucky.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Churchill Downs will conduct racing under the lights for the first time in the track's 134-year history when the track hosts three night programs late in the 2009 spring meet.

Pending approval Tuesday from the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission, Churchill will start three cards at 6 p.m. and conclude at about 11 p.m. on Friday, June 19; Friday, June 26; and Thursday, July 2.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Quality Road, the Florida Derby winner, arrived Wednesday afternoon at Belmont Park, where he will do the bulk of his training for the May 2 Kentucky Derby, trainer Jimmy Jerkens said.

LEXINGTON, Ky. - Dream Empress is the puzzler of the Ashland Stakes. When fans sort through the past performances for the Grade 1 race Saturday at Keeneland, surely more than a few will pause over those of Dream Empress and say, "What the . . ."

ARCADIA, Calif. - It's time for Dixie Chatter to finish his job.

After finishing third or fourth in four consecutive graded stakes from October to March, Dixie Chatter starts in a tough running of the $150,000 Arcadia Handicap on Saturday. The one-mile turf race has drawn Desert Code, the winner of the Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint last October, and Madeo, the winner of the Grade 2 Del Mar Derby last August, as part of a field of nine.

LEXINGTON, Ky. - It often happens that the best horse at 2 is no longer the best at 3. So when Stardom Bound was all out to win a four-horse photo in her last race, the Santa Anita Oaks, there was the predictable dialogue about how the rest of the class had caught up, how the filly had not progressed from one season to the next, how the end of her reign as a divisional champion was at hand.

Rick Dutrow, the new trainer of Stardom Bound, doesn't want to believe those things. Can't believe them. Won't believe them.

When Squirtle Squirt won the 2001 Breeders' Cup Sprint, owner David Lanzman said he couldn't imagine accomplishing anything more significant in racing. When people in the industry kept telling him that it was nothing like participating in the Kentucky Derby, Lanzman would get offended.

This year, as the owner of the top 3-year-old prospect I Want Revenge, Lanzman is finding out that he was indeed wrong.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - There were only a few dozen patrons on hand at the time but those who showed up an hour early for Wednesday's card at Gulfstream Park were treated to a much better show than the replays from Tuesday's races at Philadelphia Park or Beulah. Instead they got to see one of the most talented, versatile, and crowd-pleasing horses in the country - the ageless Commentator, who worked a half-mile over the main track shortly after noon.

LEXINGTON, Ky. - Bad news isn't hard to find these days. Keeneland has had its share, for sure, but all will be temporarily forgotten Friday amid the cheery feelings that come with the opening of a new race meet at this bucolic haven.

Chris Fackler has had little problem making the leap from apprentice to journeyman jockey. Two weeks after losing his apprentice allowance, Fackler enjoyed one of the top weekends of his career last week and is challenging for the lead in the rider standings at Fonner Park.