ELMONT, N.Y. - Godolphin Stable, which had a banner 2006 season in New York while winning stakes with Discreet Cat, Ashkal Way, and Afrashad, got off to a fast start when Utopia ($6.80) posted a game come-again victory under Mike Luzzi in the Grade 3, $105,700 Westchester Handicap on Wednesday's opening day at Belmont Park.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Two years ago, the Kentucky Derby was all about Nick Zito. With a record-tying five Derby starters, Zito went so far as to have Churchill Downs personnel construct a barrier around his barn to keep out the media and other curiosity-seekers: "The Great Wall of Zito," as it became informally known.

This year, there was no such need. Zito has no Derby starter, which he said "kind of" bothers him.

"I've had enough experience to last a lifetime," said Zito, referring to his 19 career Derby starters, "although I wouldn't mind some more of it."

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Heading into the current season, Easterman was seen as the most likely Queen's Plate candidate in trainer Mike DePaulo's barn here at Woodbine.

Easterman, a winner of his only start at 2, earned a trip to Florida to commence his preparations for the $1 million Queen's Plate, the 1 1/4-mile race for Canadian-bred 3-year-olds that will be run here June 24.

Limosano, like Easterman a 3-year-old gelding owned by Frank Romano and trained by DePaulo, also won his only outing as a 2-year-old but was kept home in Ontario with more modest goals.

CHICAGO - The track surface at Arlington Park might be gray, but the mood is bright.

And that would seem strange, since Arlington suffered through one of its toughest recent seasons in 2006. Handle and attendance dropped markedly, and a rash of breakdowns - which began in May, crested in July, and subsided late in the meet - attracted local and national media attention.

Louisiana Downs has revamped its stakes schedule for the 92-date meet that opens on Friday in one of a series of significant changes to racing operations at the track, which is also home to 1,400 slot machines.

The pick six is also making a comeback after a two-year absence. A 150-room hotel is under construction on the property. And an offtrack betting facility will open in mid-May near neighboring Mississippi.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Aside from the Kentucky Oaks, there will be plenty of top-drawer racing to entertain the six-figure crowd here Friday.

Five stakes lead into the Oaks, which is carded as the 10th of 11 races, and virtually every one of them has a recognizable name or two.

* Grade 3, $100,000 Alysheba (race 4): Perfect Drift, the 8-year-old gelding with a career bankroll of more than $4.6 million, drew post 1 in a field of eight older horses in the 1 1/16-mile race that drew several front-runners, including Wanderin Boy and Half Ours.

GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas - Silent Pleasure is riding the class escalator right now. He won his fourth consecutive stakes Saturday in the Grade 3, $300,000 Texas Mile, and the victory was the richest of his career, as well as in the careers of his trainer, Howard Scarberry, and his rider, Tracy Hebert.

Prior to Saturday, he had won a pair of stakes at Delta Downs and the $100,000 Fifth Season at Oaklawn Park.

And the stakes will get a little higher next time. Scarberry said plans are to run Silent Pleasure next in the Grade 3, $400,000 Lone Star Park Handicap.

CHICAGO - Day 1 of Arlington Park's new era will not lack for horseflesh.

Entries for Friday's opening-day program - the first of the 2007 season and the first conducted on Arlington's new synthetic racing surface - were taken Tuesday, and the racing office's cup runneth over. A booming total of 106 horses were entered on the 10-race card, impressive even for an opening day.

And while one day does not a season make, Arlington's racing secretary, Kevin Greely, was pleased with the initial response.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. - The first Saturday in May is quickly approaching, and once again Bob Baffert is loaded with promising male horses. Unfortunately for the Kentucky Derby-obsessed Baffert, his barn is full of 4- and 5-year-olds and not 3-year-old stars.

For Saturday's $150,000 Mervyn LeRoy Handicap for older horses at Hollywood Park, Baffert has five of the 18 nominees. As of Tuesday, he intended to run at least one, Wanna Runner, who was briefly on the Kentucky Derby trail in 2006.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Rags to Riches will start from post 11 as the favorite among 14 3-year-old fillies in the $500,000 Kentucky Oaks, the Grade 1 race to be run Friday for the 133rd time at Churchill Downs.

Rags to Riches enters the Oaks off back-to-back Grade 1 victories, the Las Virgenes and Santa Anita Oaks. Owned by Michael Tabor and Derrick Smith and trained by Todd Pletcher, Rags to Riches will be ridden by Garrett Gomez in the 1 1/8-mile Oaks. She has been installed as the 5-2 morning-line favorite on the Churchill program.