OZONE PARK, N.Y. - If Distorted Passion was good enough to win a sprint stakes over Aqueduct's inner track with significant traffic trouble, it only stood to reason she could be just as successful in a similar race with a clean trip.

NEW ORLEANS - Three allowance races - the fifth, seventh and ninth - highlight an unusually strong card for a Monday at Fair Grounds.

The fifth race, a 5 1/2-furlong first-level allowance on turf, may become more interesting if switched to the main track, with two talented fillies Greer Lynn and Heart Ashley waiting in the wings.

It has been six weeks since Greer Lynn's impressive maiden victory, and she may finally get a chance to run again. She is entered for the main track only, but with rain in the forecast, her connections were preparing to race.

OLDSMAR, Fla. - Nobody knows better than Derek Ryan that it is, as the refrain from the song goes, "A long way to Tipperary."

Now, in his 20th year in the United States since coming to this country from that famed Irish hamlet, Ryan is cautiously hopeful he can take another journey this spring with a promising 3-year-old named Musket Man.

NEW ORLEANS - A day after wavering, Larry Jones on Saturday recommitted his Triple Crown hopeful Old Fashioned for the Feb. 16 Southwest Stakes at Oaklawn Park.

After contemplating a change in plans for Old Fashioned's 3-year-old debut to protest the scratch of one of his horses at Oaklawn, Jones appeared satisfied with his ongoing discussions with track officials, and was planning personally to van Old Fashioned to Oaklawn on Monday.

"It seems like we are going to be able to work through it," Jones said.

A quarantine of a 38-horse barn at Turfway Park was lifted Saturday morning after samples from a horse euthanized at the track Friday tested negative for the equine herpesvirus (EVH-1) and other communicable diseases.

Barn 17 at Turfway had been placed under a precautionary quarantine Friday after a 5-year-old horse named Rockhouse Rocket was euthanized after displaying symptoms that led veterinarians and racing officials to suspect the equine herpesvirus.

A 38-horse barn at Turfway Park was placed under quarantine restrictions Friday after a 5-year-old horse named Rockhouse Rocket was euthanized after displaying signs suggesting he might have been infected with the equine herpesvirus (EHV-1), according to John Veitch, chief steward for the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission.

Larry Jones is contemplating changing his plans for leading 3-year-old Old Fashioned after the Oaklawn Park stewards scratched a horse of his from a Thursday maiden race.

Ms Good Cat was scratched from the ninth race Thursday after a backstretch monitor saw the horse having chiropractic work done on race day, said Gary Wilfert, the state steward at Oaklawn. Arkansas allows only Lasix and magnetic-therapy blankets to be used on race day in a treatment policy that has long been in place in Arkansas, said Wilfert.

At his lowest point, Justin Vitek said he "would just lay there and look at the wall," overwhelmed and fatigued by the disease that had gripped his life.

But in the painful weeks and months that followed, with the help of friends and family, Vitek found the will and strength to fight the acute myelogenous leukemia that currently is in remission.

ARCADIA, Calif. - Alpha Kitten, the winner of the Grade 2 Santa Ynez Stakes at Santa Anita last month, suffered a non-displaced condylar fracture to the cannon bone of her right foreleg while galloping at Santa Anita on Thursday, said trainer John Sadler.

A 3-year-old filly, Alpha Kitten was scheduled to undergo surgery this weekend to have stabilizing screws placed in the leg. Because the bone was not displaced, Sadler expects Alpha Kitten to return to training later this year, possibly within five or six months.

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - Jockey Terry Thompson took quick command of the Oaklawn Park standings over the track's opening weekend in mid-January and has padded the lead ever since, the same way Eddie Razo Jr. did a year ago en route to winning the title.

Thompson, who has won some of the most important stakes at Oaklawn through the years, is seeking his first local title. He had 11 wins through Thursday, five more than second-leading riders Razo and Quincy Hamilton.