ARCADIA, Calif. - A majority of trainers based at Santa Anita want to race and train their stables on a synthetic surface, according to a survey conducted recently by the California Thoroughbred Trainers. The results of the survey were presented to Santa Anita management on Tuesday in a two-page letter written by the executive director of the trainers' group, Ed Halpern.

FLORENCE, Ky. - Officials from racetracks that host Kentucky Derby prep races often arrive at Churchill Downs wearing ballcaps, buttons, or other paraphernalia touting the winner of whatever race they have hosted.

The Turfway Park folks came to Churchill last May openly rooting for Hard Spun, the winner of the Lane's End Stakes, perpetuating a Turfway tradition that has included such Lane's End winners and major Derby threats as Hansel, Prairie Bayou, Stephen Got Even, and Perfect Drift.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - La Dolce Vita has been declared the official winner of the controversial Suwannee River Handicap at Gulfstream Park following an appeals hearing held here on Wednesday.

William Greely, former president of Keeneland who was chosen by track officials to preside over the hearing, disqualified original winner Green Girl and placed her last.

Sierra Sunset will miss the Grade 2, $1 million Arkansas Derby after he was found to have a small fracture line in his left front ankle, according to his trainer, Jeff Bonde. The horse would have been a top contender in the April 12 Arkansas Derby follow his three-length victory in the Grade 3 Rebel Stakes on March 15.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - War Pass returned to the track on Wednesday for the first time since his baffling last-place performance in Saturday's Grade 3 Tampa Bay Derby. War Pass suffered his first career defeat, as the 1-20 favorite, in that race.

Trainer Nick Zito said War Pass galloped an easy mile at the Palm Meadows training center on Wednesday morning and that all appears well with his Eclipse Award winner at this time.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Though Rite Moment showed in the March 6 Limit Stakes that she may be better around two turns, her connections will cut her back to a one-turn sprint in Saturday's Grade 2, $150,000 Distaff Breeders' Cup Handicap.

The defection of Grade 1 winner Dream Rush from the Distaff, combined with the fact that owner Steve Sigler and trainer Gary Contessa already have a contender for the March 29 Next Move Handicap, made the six-furlong Distaff an attractive alternative for Rite Moment.

Portland Meadows recorded strong gains in average daily handle at its 61-day 2007-08 meeting, which ended March 11.

The track took in $32,444,670 in all-sources handle on its live races for a daily average of $531,880, up more than 22 percent from the $434,647 average daily handle at the 75-day 2006-07 meet.

Most of the gains came from out-of-state wagering on Portland Meadows races, which increased more than 24 percent, from $396,364 per day at the previous meeting to $492,799 at the recently concluded stand.

Hill 'n' Dale Farms has renewed its sponsorship of the Grade 1 Cigar Mile, run at Aqueduct in late November, the farm and the New York Racing Association announced Wednesday.

The renewal is a three-year deal, which extends through the 2010 running. Hill 'n' Dale, whose president is John Sikura, initially began sponsoring the race in 2005.

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - When jockey Robert Colton stopped riding in 2002 to begin working more closely with the national Jockeys' Guild, it seemed unlikely that the rider, who was 46 at the time, would be back in the saddle at the age of 51. But on Friday, Colton will be looking for his second win of the Oaklawn meet when he rides Sentebale in the featured ninth race.

FLORENCE, Ky. - California shipper Medjool was assigned the far outside in a field of 12 entered in the Lane's End Stakes on Saturday, which, according to the colt's owner, is a more preferable draw than one of the inside posts.

"All the trouble he's gotten into, it's been because he's been trapped along the inside," said John O'Hara, whose Equine Prep Management owns Medjool. "He's one-paced, a grinder. Being out there won't hurt us at all."