INGLEWOOD, Calif. - The Los Angeles County Fair race meet was less than two weeks away when trainer Gary Stute claimed Da Svedonya for $16,000 last August at Del Mar.

"The only reason I claimed her was because she had won at Fairplex," Stute said.

raced three times in 16 days at the fair, losing all three. So when the Oak Tree meet at Santa Anita began in fall, expectations were lowered. Da Svedonya, owned by Don Beardsworth, Dennis Decauwer, and HorseRacing TV broadcaster Peter Lurie, was given a one-month break before she was entered a $12,500 claiming sprint.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Bordonaro was expected to start Saturday as the odds-on favorite in the Grade 3 Los Angeles Handicap, but trainer Bill Spawr said Tuesday that Bordonaro will skip the six-furlong race and aim for a late-summer campaign that will include the Grade 1 Bing Crosby Handicap at Del Mar and the Breeders' Cup Sprint at Churchill Downs.

One reason is the Sprint's recent $1 million purse increase, making it a $2 million race.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Perhaps the most interesting matchup on the nine-race card Thursday at Woodbine is the opener, a 6 1/2-furlong starter allowance with a $44,500 purse. Stonington and Friendly Theresa both possess good speed, and they figure to be the first and second choices in the race, for fillies and mares who have run for a maximum of $32,000 since the beginning of last year.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Trainer Mark Frostad has been taking his time with his Sam-Son Farm charges thus far this season.

After a quiet winter in Florida, where Frostad was based at the Palm Meadows training center and had just five starters and no winners at Gulfstream, the barn begin picking up the pace at Keeneland.

"We had a couple of wins and a couple of thirds," said Frostad, who saddled eight entrants at Keeneland. "And we got a few starts into horses that needed them."

Now Frostad is back in full force at Woodbine, with 44 horses under his charge.

SAN MATEO, Calif. - Ploesti Flight stands alone among the 14 3-year-olds running in the two $20,000 turf claiming races Bay Meadows on Thursday. She's the only runner in either of the races with a turf victory.

turf victory came at Bay Meadows in February. She was given an 11-week freshener after that and did little in her comeback, running last in a strong allowance field at a mile at Golden Gate Fields. On Thursday, she drops back into more favorable company. Her victory on turf came at this same $20,000 claiming level.

CHICAGO - The second day of the second week of the 2006 Arlington Park race meeting has produced a card much better suited to this grand facility than at least two of the programs presented during the three-day opening week. Sunday's nine-race card was at least decent, but entries were exceptionally slow for Saturday, Kentucky Derby Day, and the resulting fields were weak on numbers and quality. Opening day, last Friday, was better than Saturday, but still below par.

GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas - Trainer Bob Holthus is in the market for a derby for Red Raymond. He said an appealing option is the Grade 3, $300,000 Lone Star Derby at Lone Star Park on Saturday.

"It's a pretty nice purse, and we might take a chance and try to win a derby," said Holthus, who was to make a final decision on the race Wednesday.

Red Raymond had been pointing for last week's Kentucky Derby, but he did not have enough graded earnings to secure a spot in the oversubscribed field, which went with the maximum 20 starters last Saturday.

AUBURN, Wash. - Courting Seattle stalked the pace of Ballou Slew through a half mile in 44 flat, moved to take command in the upper stretch and drew out to score a 2 3-4 length victory in Sunday's Auburn Stakes for 3-year-olds at Emerald Downs. Courting Seattle got the six furlongs in 1:08.60 under regular rider Jennifer Whitaker. Ballou Slew held second by a scant nose over Tusko T., who, like the winner, is trained by Howard Belvoir.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. - It is a safe bet that some of the 10 3-year-old fillies in Wednesday's seventh race at Hollywood Park, a $51,000 allowance, will be nominated for the $175,000 Honeymoon Breeders' Cup Handicap on June 4. Many of the fillies look worthy of running in a stakes.

The field features three fillies from Europe making their first starts in the United States and seven fillies with established local form.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Balance, the beaten favorite in the Kentucky Oaks last Friday, was kicked during the race, an incident that compromised her chances, trainer David Hofmans said Sunday.

Balance finished 11th of 14 in the Kentucky Oaks. She was sixth on the backstretch before fading through the stretch. Hofmans speculates that the kick occurred in the final quarter-mile.

"She got kicked in the race, a pretty good cut under her knee," he said. "We think that's what stopped her. She looks good now."