LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Churchill Downs kept hearing from horseplayers that the Kentucky Derby Future Wager was growing stale. Now, beginning with the second of three Future Wager pools next month, Churchill will be offering an exacta to spice things up.

After much early-season fanfare, Pyro failed to distinguish himself in the 2008 Kentucky Derby, finishing a distant eighth. But maybe his sister, War Echo, can do better in the 2009 Kentucky Oaks.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Although one of his top Kentucky Derby prospects, Danger to Society, was transferred to trainer Rick Dutrow Jr.'s barn last week, leading trainer Ken McPeek has no shortage of talented 3-year-olds left to fill the void. Among them are the undefeated Free Country and the improving Theregoesjojo.

ARCADIA, Calif. - A Breeders' Cup-winning filly trained by Bobby Frankel will go outside her division to face colts this spring in a prestigious Grade 1 at Santa Anita.

Although the campaign for Stardom Bound remains undetermined, Frankel said Tuesday that Filly and Mare Sprint winner Ventura will take on the boys March 7 in the Grade 1 Frank E. Kilroe Mile on turf. It will not be the first time Ventura, owned and bred by Juddmonte Farms, has faced open company.

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - Kick On has been committed to the Grade 3, $250,000 Southwest after a powerful six-furlong work at Oaklawn Park over the weekend, while trainer D. Wayne Lukas said he is considering two horses for the Monday race, Flying Private and Buzzin and Dreamin.

The Southwest, a one-mile race for 3-year-olds, is the first of two major preps for the Grade 2, $1 million Arkansas Derby. Old Fashioned, who galloped at Oaklawn on Tuesday, is expected to start as the favorite over Silver City, who is due in later this week from Fair Grounds.

ARCADIA, Calif. - Gaining a toehold in California racing has been relatively easy for trainer Mark Casse this winter. Getting used to cross-country travel from his base in Florida is another issue.

"Is it a pain? Yes," Casse said on Sunday. "I just sat on a plane for five hours."

During long flights to Casse's base in Ocala, Fla., he can reflect on a decent start to the first seven weeks of the Santa Anita meeting.

ALBANY, Calif. - Saturday is the most anticipated day of the long Golden Gate Fields meeting, when the Grade 3, $200,000 El Camino Real Derby is run.

In its 27 previous runnings, the El Camino has been one of the premier Triple Crown steppingstones, producing one Kentucky Derby winner, five Preakness winners, and a Belmont winner as well as two Kentucky Derby runners-up and a Belmont runner-up.

The Oaklawn Park board of stewards in Hot Springs, Ark., has reinstated a man who had been suspended and fined $500 for doing chiropractic work on a horse without the proper licensing.

The man, Bill Schmidt, who had previously held a groom's license, has now been issued a vendor's license, enabling him to practice chiropractic medicine under veterinary supervision.

Schmidt had been observed by a backstretch monitor on Jan. 29 doing chiropractic work on a horse trained by Larry Jones on race day, in violation of Arkansas rules and causing the horse to be scratched.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. - At this time last year, trainer Bruce Levine was getting excited about a New York-bred sprinter who had just returned from a layoff with a solid victory that set him up for his graded stakes debut.

While Bustin Stones would go on to win the Grade 2 General George and Grade 1 Carter, his career was cut short by injury that eventually forced his retirement.

ARCADIA, Calif. - There will be no shortage of starters in the $1 million Santa Anita Handicap on March 7.

As of Sunday, 13 starters were probable for the richest race of the meeting, with the maximum field of 14 well within reach. Three preps at Santa Anita last weekend helped solidify a probable field led by the Strub Stakes winner, Cowboy Cal, and the San Antonio Handicap winner, Magnum.