HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - The last time Dreamsandvisions moved from seven furlongs to six, he ran the best race of his career. Trainer Steven Duke will be hoping for similar results Thursday, when he makes the same distance move with Dreamsandvisions in an optional claimer at Oaklawn Park.

"That's part of the reason we went in there," Duke said.

The six-furlong race drew a field of six, including the comebacking Pro Prado and Rocky River.

ARCADIA, Calif. - Not many turf horses can run the final quarter-mile faster than Art Moderne did one month ago - 22.20 seconds.

On the other hand, not many turf horses find themselves as loose on the lead as Art Moderne was that day. Racing one mile, set leisurely fractions (50.29 and 1:14.67) before he turned it on late and missed by a nose in a two-other-than allowance, which mirrors the conditions of the race 7 feature Thursday at Santa Anita.

ALBANY, Calif. - Thursday's Golden Gate Fields card gets off to a good start with the day's feature in the first race.

Five 3-year-olds will sprint six furlongs in an interesting race that a pair of runners with winning streaks and three others with a victory two starts back.

Bank Emblem has won three straight while moving up the claiming ladder. Potrero Station has won two straight after being dropped into the maiden claiming ranks two starts back. Both come into the race off layoffs and with bullet drills in their final works.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Grass racing again dominates the card at Gulfstream Park on Thursday, but it is a one-mile optional claimer on the dirt that highlights Thursday's 10-race program.

ARCADIA, Calif. - The road to the Kentucky Derby just got easier for Brother Derek.

A key defection from the Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby - sprinter Fast Parade is out - means Brother Derek should be loose on the lead Saturday in his final prep for the Kentucky Derby.

LEXINGTON, Ky. - Trainer David Hofmans was at Keeneland early Tuesday to supervise a routine gallop by Balance, the standout 3-year-old filly who figures as a heavy favorite Saturday in the $500,000 Ashland Stakes, the Grade 1 race that anchors the opening three-day weekend of the 15-day Keeneland spring meet.

Balance, owned by Amerman Racing, arrived last Thursday from her Southern California base and was scheduled to breeze "maybe five-eighths" of a mile Wednesday, said Hofmans, who arrived Monday.

STICKNEY, Ill. - All the favorites in Saturday's Illinois Derby will start on the outside looking in, with the race's top four betting choices drawing the four outside posts when entries were taken late Tuesday morning.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Last Saturday's $1 million at Gulfstream Park could produce as many as four starters for the Kentucky Derby on May 6.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Trainer Todd Pletcher spent one last busy morning in south Florida on Sunday before shipping himself and the majority of his stable off to Kentucky in time for the opening of the Keeneland meeting on Friday.

Among Pletcher's long list of Sunday morning workers were two of his four Kentucky Derby hopefuls, Bluegrass Cat and My Golden Song, both of whom drilled five furlongs over the fast track. Bluegrass Cat earned a bullet by covering the distance in 59 seconds, while My Golden Song was timed in 1:01.80.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. - The first five days of Aqueduct's main-track meeting have already produced five winners that have paid more than $45. All five came in races involved in the pick-six sequence, so it should come as no surprise that there have been four pick-six carryovers.

Victories by Calculator ($45.60) on Saturday and Gattinara ($47.20) on Sunday helped create a $205,721 carryover heading into Wednesday's card. With two days for handicappers to prepare, expect close to a $1 million pool.

A modest $72 ticket may look like this: