He needed a substantial class drop to do it, but the grand old man of trainer Scott Lake's massive stable, 13-year-old gelding Stormy Do, won for the fourth time this season in Monday's sixth race at Philadelphia Park.

Facing $5,000 claimers, Stormy Do went to the front in the six-furlong sprint, opened up a 2 1/2-length lead at the eighth pole, and held on by a half-length.

It was Stormy Do's first win since he was re-claimed for $10,000 by Lake in early May. Lake lost the horse for $12,500 in March.

SANTA ROSA, Calif. - It seems trainer Chuck Jenda sensed something in El Real's initial start on the turf. El Real ran poorly the first time he raced on grass, but since then it has become his best surface.

looks tough in Friday's Sonoma County Fair feature as he returns to the turf off a main-track sprint to meet six rivals in a $20,000 claimer at one mile.

HENDERSON, Ky. - Florida shipper Prospective Saint will be the 119-pound highweight Saturday in the annual high point of the Ellis Park meet, the Grade 3 Gardenia Handicap, which serves as the focus of the Big Four Stakes program.

Prospective Saint is one of 11 fillies and mares entered Wednesday for the $150,000 Gardenia, the richest of the Saturday stakes. The three other stakes, worth $50,000 apiece, on the 11-race card are: the Anna M. Fisher Debutante, the James C. Ellis Juvenile, and the Regaey Island.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Emma-Jayne Wilson will be riding as an apprentice for the last time at Woodbine on Monday and will be looking to go out on a high note aboard Count to Three, one of the leading candidates for the $150,000 Royal North Stakes.

Wilson, who entered this week as the meet's leading rider in both races won, with 73, and money won, with $3,246,720, will actually keep her five-pound apprentice allowance until Aug. 12.

Wilson, however, will not be at Woodbine for her first day as a journeyman.

This is the meet they've been waiting for at Remington Park.

With a casino now in full swing, there will be a record purse distribution will during the 68-date season, which opens Friday night. It is a revived Remington, the kind of meet state industry leaders in Oklahoma envisioned when a referendum providing for electronic gaming was passed in 2004.

"We're thrilled to death to be kicking off what we think is going to be a new era for Remington Park and for Oklahoma Thoroughbred racing," said Scott Wells, vice president and general manager of Remington.

DEL MAR, Calif. - Considering the competition that El Don and Super Strut have faced in recent starts, they will have a much easier time in Friday's $125,000 California Dreamin' Handicap at Del Mar. The two California-breds have run against some of the toughest horses competing in the state this year.

, who won the Crystal Water Handicap at Santa Anita in March, finished third behind Lava Man in the Khaled Stakes at Hollywood Park on April 30. Lava Man went on to win two Grade 1 races at that meeting.

Malibu Mint is the only Grade 1 winner among the six fillies and mares entered in Friday's $150,000 Honorable Miss Stakes, and she's the likely favorite, although there are several factors that could make her vulnerable in the six-furlong, Grade 2 race. The Honorable Miss is one of three stakes on Friday's 10-race card, along with the $70,000 Ashado and $70,000 Capote Belle.

THURSDAY, AUGUST 3

Wednesday's plays, along with the rest of the card, were cancelled due to the extreme heat wave that gripped the Northeast. We broke even!

Fortunately, things were supposed to get a bit better on Thursday, when the high temperature was expected to be only in the mid-80s.

RACE 4

It is mighty tempting to follow the crowd into the third week of the Del Mar season.

After all, the public has nailed winners this summer with absolute precision. After 12 days of racing, the win rate of Del Mar chalk is 44 percent (46 for 103), and a $2 win bet on every post-time favorite has produced an unusually high $2.30 return on investment.

Is it a short-term aberration? Or will the chalk-heavy trend continue? Sure hope it's the latter, because this column will continue to identify potential overlays.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - As a 3-year-old, Flower Alley was asked to do a lot in a short period of time. Only 78 days passed from the time he won his first race to the day he stepped into the Churchill Downs starting gate as a 41-1 shot in the Kentucky Derby.

But in the second half of the year, no 3-year-old was better. Flower Alley won the Jim Dandy and Travers, and after a hiccup in the Jockey Club Gold Cup, he finished the year with a second-place finish to the 5-year-old Saint Liam in the $4 million Breeders' Cup Classic.