ARCADIA, Calif. - Mired in a monthlong slump, Alex Solis went rummaging through his garage last month, seeking inspiration. He dug out old videotapes of stakes wins aboard such familiar names as Bertrando, Kona Gold, Malek, Megahertz, and Pleasantly Perfect, a personal list of highlights.

Sitting in front of his television, Solis thought to himself that the list was not complete; more names were needed.

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - Trainer Bob Holthus broke out of a surprising Oaklawn Park slump last week with three winners. He sent out Prayer Service to upset the comebacking Steppenwolfer in an allowance last Friday, and also won maiden races with the 3-year-old colts Next Adventure and Pro Thunder.

Holthus had been 1ofor 37 going into last week's races, a rare slow start for the man who has won a record nine titles here at Oaklawn. He is now 4 for 47 to rank among the top 10 trainers at the track, and his stable earnings of $248,750 rank third among all trainers at Oaklawn.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Ramon Dominguez returned Wednesday at Aqueduct with four mounts, his first action since going down in a horrific spill here on Feb. 1.

He finished second aboard Semichi in the first race, his best result of the afternoon.

Dominguez considers himself fortunate to have escaped with only a bone bruise in the right knee.

"I was very, very lucky," Dominguez said. "Jose Santos was also in the same spill and he got hurt a lot worse."

Santos, still sidelined with back injuries, and Dominguez went down in a three-horse pileup.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Considering he has had three different horses finish second to Invasor in Grade 1 races, trainer Nick Zito has to be happy that the defending Horse of the Year is not running in Saturday's $350,000 Gulfstream Park Handicap. Still, with the presence of Corinthian, Zito knows the Grade 2 race won't be easy for Hesanoldsalt, who is coming off a runner-up finish in the Donn Handicap.

Who Doctor Who, one of Nebraska's all-time great runners, was euthanized on Feb. 22 at Herb Riecken's farm in Fremont, Neb., due to laminitis at age 24.

Bred by Marvin Iverson in Nebraska and foaled in 1983, Who Doctor Who long reigned as the state's top sprinter for owner and trainer Riecken. He was Nebraska's all-time leading money earner with $813,870 until his mark was eclipsed by Dazzling Falls in 1995.

Cobalt Blue, impressive winner of an allowance sprint at Santa Anita on Feb. 14 in his first start since last summer, is possible for Sunland Park's marquee event, the $600,000 WinStar Derby on March 18. He is trained by Doug O'Neill.

Dennis O'Neill, the trainer's brother who picked out the horse for $325,000, said: "He's probably the most beautiful colt I ever bought, and we got him on the only bid we made. He's perfectly put together and very correct. He would have gone for a lot more, but he's by Golden Missile, who's not in vogue."

Trainer Jack Brooks, who has won an unprecedented eight runnings of the All-American Futurity for Quarter Horses, announced his retirement on Wednesday. He began training in 1959 at Ruidoso Downs. Brooks is 71.

"I've been in this business for 47 years, and it has been so great to me and my family," Brooks said in a release issued by Remington Park. "There's probably not a good time to do this, so now seems to be as good a time as any.

"I'm still healthy and want to do some things that I haven't been able to do because I've always been training and racing horses."

For the third straight year, Mountaineer Race Track has kept its stakes schedule completely intact.

All 28 stakes will be run in the same order and for the same purse values as in 2005 and 2006.

Nearly one-third of the stakes will be held on Saturday, Aug. 4, when nine stakes, highlighted by the Grade 3, $750,000 West Virginia Derby, are conducted on a special afternoon card that will begin at 2 p.m. Eastern. First post time for all other programs is 7 p.m.

ARCADIA, Calif. - Richard Mandella was giggling so hard he could hardly get the words out.

Last Sunday, Boboman, the winner of the Hollywood Turf Cup in December, worked five furlongs in company in 58.80 seconds, an uncharacteristically quick workout for a Mandella-trained runner. Boboman's next start, Saturday's $1 million Santa Anita Handicap, was still six days away, but the 6-year-old horse seemed more than ready. The trainer could hardly contain himself.

"Wait until they see this dude," he said, cackling.

TORONTO, Ontario - It will be pretty much status quo for the stakes schedule at Stampede Park this season as 14 stakes, worth a total $800,000, will be offered over the course of the 50-day meeting in Calgary, Alberta, that starts March 23.

The $125,000 Alberta Derby, the meet's premier offering, will be run on June 16, with the $75,000 Penny Ridge, the second-richest stakes on the calendar, being the June 17 closing-day feature.

The other stakes are worth $50,000, although four will feature bonus money for Alberta-breds finishing in the top three.