HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - Bordonaro won his fourth consecutive stakes on Thursday when he drove to 1 1/4-length win over Friendly Island in the Grade 3, $150,000 . It was another five lengths back to Semaphore Man in third.

Bordonaro ($2.80) broke well from his outside post and dueled with Friendly Island though an opening quarter-mile in 21.70 seconds. The pair continued to lock horns through a half-mile in 44.26 seconds. Bordonaro shook free of Friendly Island near the eighth pole and went on to cover the six furlongs in 1:08.77.

If a handicapper looks at Saturday's Irving Distaff and decides Steve Asmussen is going to win the race, a handicapper still is only partway home. That's because Asmussen has two horses in the $75,000 race, carded for 7 1/2 furlongs on the Lone Star turf course, and either one of them seems good enough to get the job done.

CHICAGO - Mark Cristel and his brother James Cristel, who owns many of the horses Mark Cristel trains at Hawthorne Race Course, had the prohibitive favorite in a sprint allowance race here at the National Jockey Club meet two Saturdays ago, but Proven Cat finished last of six on April 1. The feature this Saturday is a route, and the Cristels have the likely favorite for this race, too, a solid horse named Wantedtobeagray who has finished second or third in his last four starts, all at the third allowance level of Saturday's featured eighth race.

ALBANY, Calif. - On the surface, trainer Lloyd Mason should be sitting pretty with barn newcomer Soft Seventeen for Saturday's $40,000-added North Beach Handicap at Golden Gate Fields.

Among the five 3-year-olds in the 1 1/16-mile grass race, Soft Seventeen is the only one to have won on turf and place in a stakes.

But with rain in the forecast and little time to get to know his new charge, Mason, frankly, doesn't know what to expect.

Muir Beach returns to dirt, her best surface, in Saturday's $40,000 Cactus Flower Handicap at Turf Paradise.

The six-furlong race for fillies and mares goes as the eighth race on a nine-race card and drew a field of 10.

It's early but they're already jostling for position at the front of the New Mexico-bred juvenile class, and the $195,317 Copper Top Futurity at Sunland Park provides the first real test. The entry of Fantasmo and Twice the Moves figures to dominate the wagering in the Copper Top, a 4 1/2-furlong race for New Mexico-bred 2-year-olds.

Acts Like a King, who returns from a 6 1/2-month layoff, squares off against recent maiden winner Out of View in the $50,000 Howard B. Noonan Stakes at Beulah Park. The six-furlong race for 3-year-old Ohio-breds has a field of nine.

Up 'n Blumin returns to action as a solid favorite when she faces six others in the $15,000 Runza Stakes at Fonner Park.

The only time Up 'n Blumin has lost at Fonner came in this race a year ago. She comes into this year's race off a sharp seasonal debut victory in the Orphan Kist Stakes on March 4. Now trained by Larry Donlin, Up 'n Blumin is in position to repeat as the meet's champion older filly or mare.

PORTLAND, Ore. - Saturday's 1 1/16-mile Preview Stakes serves as a prep for the nine-furlong Oregon Derby on May 6, but the prep could be a good deal more interesting than the reputed main attraction.

Going into the Preview, it is devilishly difficult to choose between the three best 3-year-olds on the grounds: Ballou Slew, Tom Two, and the exceptional filly Lawanda. Once the Preview is run, it may be all too obvious who is best.

VANCOUVER, British Columbia - A few changes were made to the stakes schedule at Hastings this year. The biggest is the restructuring of B.C. Cup Day. In an effort to improve the card for B.C. Cup Day, Aug. 7, three of the seven stakes races traditionally restricted to British Columbia-breds have been opened up to horses that are owned by British Columbia residents.