ELMONT, N.Y. - Trainer Rusty Arnold believes there were several reasons why Magical Ride was unable to replicate her brilliant debut when she finished third as the 4-5 favorite in the Grade 2 Adirondack Breeders' Cup last month at Saratoga.

BOSSIER CITY, La. - Warrior Song looks like the controlling speed against a strong group of regional stakes winners on Saturday in the $200,000 Louisiana Downs Breeders' Cup Handicap. The 1 1/16-mile race is one of four turf stakes supporting the card's main event, the Grade 2, $500,000 Super Derby.

Ashkal Way, Dreadnaught, and Interpatation, who finished within a length of each other as the top three horses in last month's Grade 2 Bernard Baruch Handicap at Saratoga, are poised for a rematch in Saturday's $200,000 John Schapiro Memorial Breeders' Cup Handicap at Laurel Park.

Like the Baruch on Aug. 26, the Schapiro will be contested at 1 1/8 miles on turf.

The $75,000 Pacific Heights at Golden Gate Fields has the look of a match race.

Somethinaboutlaura and Jill's Sky both have speed and quality. While the one-mile turf race may be a Cal Cup prep for both, neither Somethinaboutlaura's trainer, Jerry Hollendorfer, nor Jill's Sky's trainer, Jenine Sahadi, is looking past the race, which drew seven entrants. Somethinaboutlaura may be a bit easier to rate, which could give her the edge.

Royal Kleven, runner-up to Vaca City Flyer in her past two starts, returns to the turf and stretches out. She could be a pace factor as well.

OCEANPORT, N.J. - Trainer and co-owner Bobby Dibona has high hopes for Actin Good in the colt division of the National Association of Two-Year-Old Consignors Futurity on Saturday at Monmouth Park.

This is the second year Monmouth hosts the colt and filly divisions, each worth $200,000. The six-furlong stakes are restricted to horses that were cataloged in a 2-year-old sale this year and whose consignor paid a fee to the NATC advertising fund.

Having a juvenile with promise is an exciting prospect for Dibona in his first summer at Monmouth.

POMONA, Calif. - A $5,000 claiming race at the Los Angeles County Fair was the most important race in the country Wednesday, as horseplayers everywhere reaffirmed that gambling is the sport's chief appeal.

A three-day carryover of nearly $1 million attracted fresh money of $2.9 million into the pick six Wednesday at Fairplex Park, where the first leg of the sequence was a low-rung claimer. Full fields throughout the card made for competitive racing even at the bottom levels, and by the end of the afternoon, handle on the 11-race card soared to a Fairplex record of $10,390,081.

Strong Contender's best race was a seven-length rout of the Grade 2 Dwyer at Belmont Park in July. He did not duplicate the effort in his next and most recent start, when he finished third in the Grade 1 Haskell. But Strong Contender is giving his connections every indication he is set to run back to his Dwyer effort Saturday in the Grade 2, $500,000 Super Derby at Louisiana Downs.

The late trainer Robert M. Miller will be honored at Great Lakes Downs with a permanent memorial. The feature, the $50,000 Sickle's Image Stakes, will then be run in his memory. The race, for 2-year-old fillies at six furlongs, is headed by Valley Loot, winner of the Temptress Stakes. Valley Loot will face four of her Temptress rivals, plus two new shooters.

The Woodlands in Kansas City, Kan., the dual-purpose facility that hosts both year-round Greyhound racing and a Thoroughbred/Quarter Horse mixed meet, begins its 31-day horse racing season Saturday. The meet will continue through Nov. 4, Breeders' Cup Day.

Racing is conducted on a Saturday-through-Wednesday basis with post time at 12:30 p.m. Central through Oct. 28. For the final five days of the meet, post time will be noon. The 10-race cards will generally feature seven Thoroughbred and three Quarter Horse races.

POMONA, Calif. - Refinery was one race away from the Santa Anita Derby, until a bruised foot and a subpar effort in the Grade 2 San Felipe in March knocked him off the derby trail.

Refinery can still become a derby winner, on a smaller scale. The Richard Mandella trained-colt is one of seven good 3-year-olds entered in the $100,000 Pomona Derby on Saturday at Fairplex Park.

The field includes sprinter Northern Soldier, local Derby Trial runner-up Gimme S'mor, improving allowance runner Quebec Citizen, front-runner The Five J's, closer Two Trails, and Sensational Score.