ARCADIA, Calif. - Tiago, third in the Breeders' Cup Classic last October, will not start in Saturday's $1 million Santa Anita Handicap after a recent loss of appetite, according to Dottie Ingordo, racing manager for owners Jerry and Ann Moss.

Tiago was not entered for the Big Cap when entries were taken on Wednesday. A four-time stakes winner, Tiago was seen as a leading contender for the Grade 1 Big Cap.

"He backed off his feed a little," Ingordo said. "It's too bad because he was doing so well. He was training superbly."

Larry Jones was making that haul again Tuesday. With strings of horses he trains at both Fair Grounds and Oaklawn Park, Jones has worn his own grooves in the roads from New Orleans to Hot Springs, Ark., the last couple years. Reached in transit from Fair Grounds to Oaklawn, Jones was asked which horses were housed in the trailer just behind him.

"Oh, don't know if there are any you've heard of," Jones said.

Highway humor.

ARCADIA, Calif. - The sun came up, the stock market went down, and Bobby Frankel stayed bullish Tuesday on his two runners aiming to the $1 million Santa Anita Handicap on Saturday. Despite a sixth-place finish by Zambezi Sun in his U.S. debut and a recent seventh by Champs Elysees, Frankel said he believes both will improve, one in particular.

"I prefer Zambezi Sun," Frankel stated, and he was elated at how well Zambezi Sun galloped on the main track this week. "He's going to be tough, he's galloping very good."

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Laragh, who finished third as the favorite in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf before closing out her 2-year-old campaign with a victory in the Grade 1 Hollywood Starlet, got back to work again Monday morning following a brief freshening, breezing three furlongs in 36.45 seconds at Palm Meadows.

Laragh shipped to south Florida following her one-length victory in the Starlet on Dec. 13, and after turning in several works at Palm Meadows during January was given a month off by trainer John Terranova.

ARCADIA, Calif. - Two years ago, a 3-year-old colt and filly in Chile rose to such prominence that they attracted attention from owners throughout the world.

The filly, Cocoa Beach, won three consecutive Group 3 races and was later bought by the Maktoum family's Godolphin Racing. She has since won five stakes in Dubai and the United States, including the Grade 1 Matriarch Stakes at Hollywood Park last fall. Cocoa Beach was second to Zenyatta in the Breeders' Cup Ladies' Classic last fall.

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - With two wins at 1 1/16 miles this meet at Oaklawn Park, the Tim Ritchey-trained Wise Kid has emerged as a 3-year-old to watch. He dominated a first-level allowance here last Friday, and is set to make his stakes debut on March 14 in the Grade 2, $300,000 Rebel at 1 1/16 miles.

"As of right now, it looks like we're headed to, hopefully, the Rebel," said Ritchey.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. - For the last 23 years and counting, trainer Shug McGaughey's success in Thoroughbred racing has been directly linked with the Phipps family. But if McGaughey is to make a return to the Kentucky Derby for the first time in seven years, his best chance appears to be with a colt owned by an old friend who has started a new venture.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. - The contentious nature of Saturday's $250,000 Gotham Stakes is such that a horse who has won his last six starts by a combined 45 lengths and who is the highest money earner in the field could be the longest shot on the board in the Grade 3 race, to be run over Aqueduct's inner track.

ALBANY, Calif. - After two months of four-day weeks, racing returns to five-day weeks at Golden Gate beginning Wednesday. As the racing opportunities expand, the horse population is beginning to shrink.

Horses based in Washington and British Columbia are beginning to return home for their summer meetings, although some trainers are leaving a few horses at Golden Gate Fields.

ARCADIA, Calif. - The likelihood of a maximum field of 14 in Saturday's $1 million Santa Anita Handicap is a delight to trainer John Shirreffs and jockey Mike Smith, the team behind top contender Tiago.

Third in the Breeders' Cup Classic in October, which had a field of 12, Tiago needs an honest pace to aid his closing style.

"When horses come from off the pace, they need a little help up front," Shirreffs said.