HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - Most people know the best 3-year-old colt in trainer Bob Holthus's barn: Lawyer Ron. Now meet the best 3-year-old filly: Beau Dare. She will make her first start of the year Saturday in the $100,000 Instant Racing Breeders' Cup, which is one of two undercard stakes supporting the Grade 2, $1 million Arkansas Derby at Oaklawn Park.

The Instant Racing will be run at one mile, and is the first leg of a national pick four, which continues with the Commonwealth Breeders' Cup and the Blue Grass from Keeneland, and ends with the Arkansas Derby.

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - Maybe it's in the water.

The local drinking water is just one of the advantages of prepping a horse here for the Kentucky Derby, say some of the top horsemen here. The last three years, Oaklawn has been a hotbed for young talent, producing the winners of four of the last six Triple Crown races in Smarty Jones and Afleet Alex, and one of this year's Kentucky Derby favorites in Lawyer Ron.

Oaklawn is located in Hot Springs National Park, where natural springs of hot water come out of the ground. The minerals in the water are believed to be therapeutic.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Smuggler, last year's champion 3-year-old filly, is likely to make her return to the races in next Saturday's Grade 2, $150,000 Bed o' Roses Breeders' Cup Handicap, trainer Shug McGaughey said Thursday.

Smuggler, unraced since winning the Coaching Club American Oaks last July 23, worked five furlongs in 1:01.47 Thursday over Belmont's main track. It was the sixth work of the year for Smuggler, who is expected to work again on Monday.

"If she works good Monday, I'll run," McGaughey said.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. - In two races one hour apart on the same Gulfstream Park card, Teammate went gate to wire to win the nine-furlong Bonnie Miss Stakes, while Miraculous Miss rallied from last to take the seven-furlong Davona Dale.

Saturday, the two fillies with contrasting styles meet at a middle distance when they head the $150,000 Comely Stakes at Aqueduct. The Comely, a Grade 2 race for 3-year-old fillies, is run as a one-turn mile over the Big A's main track.

ARCADIA, Calif. - When trainer Ron McAnally was planning Lightning Hit's campaign for early 2006, he did not envision that the European import would still be seeking his first start in the middle of April.

Bad weather and the failure of some races to draw sufficient entries have kept off the racetrack until Saturday's $100,000 La Puente Stakes for 3-year-olds at a mile on turf at Santa Anita.

While the La Puente will mark Lightning Hit's first start since finishing fourth in a stakes in Germany last September, McAnally is expecting a good race.

ARCADIA, Calif. - A. P. Warrior, the winner of the San Felipe Stakes last month and the third-place finisher in the Santa Anita Derby last weekend, will be ridden by Corey Nakatani in the Kentucky Derby on May 6.

A. P. Warrior is trained by John Shirreffs, who won the 2005 Kentucky Derby in an upset with Giacomo.

Nakatani, who has yet to win the Kentucky Derby with 11 mounts, has ridden A. P. Warrior in his last two starts. The San Felipe was the first time that Nakatani had ridden A. P. Warrior, who is owned by Stan Fulton.

Three fillies and mares who won graded stakes in 2005 - all coming off lengthy layoffs - add some spice to Maryland's first grass stakes of the season.

, who upset the Grade 1 Queen Elizabeth II Cup at Keeneland at 18-1 last October, and Grade 3 winners Humoristic and Smart N Classy head a full field of 14 for the $85,000 Dahlia Stakes, the feature on Saturday's closing-day program at Laurel Park.

Handicappers must decide which horses are likely to be ready rather than rusty for the one-mile Dahlia.

LEXINGTON, Ky. - Keeneland is continuing to block its signal to most offshore rebate outlets, a spokesman for Keeneland, Jim Williams, said on Thursday, although one domestic rebate site has been allowed back into the track's pools.

The site, Lien Games in North Dakota, has been allowed to take bets on Keeneland races because, Williams said, it "fulfilled the due diligence and provided the information we requested" through the Thoroughbred Racing Protective Bureau, a racetrack-owned investigative agency.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Procreate will be heavily favored to successfully defend his title in Saturday's $50,000 Yankee Affair Stakes at Gulfstream Park. But even a victory will be little consolation to his connections or the friends and family of his longtime trainer, John Zimmerman, who died of an apparent heart attack earlier this week at age 46.

LEXINGTON, Ky. - In California, Hollywood Park is the most Eastern-playing of the Western tracks. It is where Diplomat Lady thrived last fall, winning the Grade 1 Hollywood Starlet. She did not repeat that effort at Santa Anita this winter, but on Thursday at Keeneland, racing on a sandy surface that also flattered her front-running style, Diplomat Lady returned to that top form.