ARCADIA, Calif. - Five hours on a transcontinental flight from New York to Los Angeles last weekend went by in a snap for jockey Joe Talamo.

There was no need to watch a movie, or find something to read. Talamo was busy reflecting on the events of recent weeks - his success at Santa Anita this year, and his win in Saturday's Gotham Stakes at Aqueduct aboard Triple Crown hopeful I Want Revenge. When he allowed himself to daydream, there was always the future.

"You keep thinking, I'm not supposed to be doing this good," Talamo said on Sunday.

It's back to square one for the Aqueduct racino.

Delaware North Companies Gaming and Entertainment informed New York's Gov. David Paterson on Tuesday that it will be unable to secure the financing to pay the state a $370 million licensing fee by a March 31 deadline to operate a 4,500-machine video-lottery terminal parlor at Aqueduct.

Delaware North officials blamed "a deterioration of the credit and equity financial markets in this recession economy" for its inability to get the proper financing. Delaware North said it remains committed to doing the project.

If horses racing under the same silks actually thought like a team and talked like athletes, Patena would be quoted this week saying, "It's all on me now."

Yes, if Team IEAH Stables is to win the Kentucky Derby for the second year in a row, Patena is probably going to be the horse to do it. A week ago, the IEAH-owned filly Stardom Bound still was considered a leading Derby hopeful, but when Stardom Bound struggled to beat seemingly inferior competition Saturday in the Santa Anita Oaks, plans to beat the boys were back-burnered.

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - It will be either the Kentucky Derby or Derby Trial after this weekend for Silver City. Already proven to be a brilliant sprinter, he will make his second start around two turns on Saturday in the Grade 2, $300,000 Rebel at Oaklawn Park.

The 1 1/16-mile stakes is the final local prep for the Grade 2, $1 million Arkansas Derby. Silver City comes into the race off a runner-up finish to Kentucky Derby favorite Old Fashioned in the Grade 3, $250,000 Southwest at a mile here Feb. 15.

The state of Maryland racing grew even darker Tuesday when the Maryland Jockey Club announced that racing will be conducted at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore for only 20 dates this year.

Maryland horsemen and track management agreed last month to maintain a $160,000 per-day purse structure during the Pimlico meet. With a nearly $2 million shortfall in purse account at the current meet at Laurel Park, also owned by the MJC, the reduction of dates from 31 to 20 was deemed necessary. The Maryland Racing Commission has approved the change.

Reacting to the poor economy, Hollywood Park has cut $1.5 million and three graded stakes from its stakes schedule for the upcoming spring-summer meeting, which runs from April 22 to July 19.

The stakes eliminated and their 2008 purses are the $250,000 Jim Murray Memorial Handicap over 1 1/2 miles on turf, the $100,000 Hawthorne Handicap for females over 1 1/16 miles, and the $100,000 Will Rogers Stakes for 3-year-olds over a mile on turf. The races could be restored in 2010, according to Martin Panza, vice-president of racing.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Big Drama's starting berth in the Kentucky Derby has been secure ever since his victory in the Grade 3 Delta Jackpot in his 2-year-old finale. But having enough graded earnings is only half the battle when it comes to getting a horse into the starting gate at Churchill Downs on the first Saturday in May, as trainer David Fawkes and owner-breeder Harold Queen learned the hard way this winter.

ARCADIA, Calif. - It took five starts, but Third Dawn finally got the right trip Saturday in the Grade 1 Santa Anita Oaks, and the recent maiden winner earned a trip out of town after jumping up and finishing second by only a nose to Stardom Bound.

The Oaks was the first race in which Third Dawn was able to rate behind a contested pace. "I always felt she'd be more effective in a big field" with speed to run at, trainer John Sadler said. "She never got the trips her first few races I wanted her to get."

Dolphus Morrison spent much of his childhood on a farm in northern Alabama, his father a farmer of corn and cotton.

"He used Missouri mules on the farm," Morrison said. "He bought green yearling mules and broke his own. My father, he hated horses."

The elder Morrison should see the one his son has now.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Smooth Air, Cool Coal Man, and Bribon turned in works for Saturday's Grade 2 Gulfstream Park Handicap at three different venues on Sunday morning. Smooth Air drilled five furlongs in 1:02.60 at Calder, Bribon went the same distance in 1:01.40 over the swifter Gulfstream Park strip, while Cool Coal Man breezed a half-mile in 47.90 seconds at Palm Meadows. Smooth Air's worked was the fastest by a full second on Sunday's tab at Calder.