ALBANY, Calif. - Two stakes-winning French imports will get a stern test in their American debuts in Saturday's $40,000-added San Quentin overnight stakes at Golden Gate Fields.

The connections of Silent Name and Sleepless Joy are both eager to run, although they will scratch if the 1 1/16-mile race is switched from the turf to the dirt. Both Silent Name's trainer, Gary Mandella, and Sleepless Joy's trainer, Bob Hess Jr., are unconcerned about the prospect of running over a soft or yielding course.

They all have something good going on, although none of them have it all.

Four 3-year-olds have sufficient credentials to be favored Saturday in the $100,000 John Battaglia Memorial Stakes at Turfway Park: Go Bucky Go, Laity, Trailing Twelve, and Warrior Within. All have shown themselves good enough to win the Battaglia and proceed to the logical next step on the Derby trail, the March 25 Lane's End Stakes at Turfway, but they all have some flaws, too.

STICKNEY, Ill. - Since Shannon Ritter ended a long tenure as an assistant to former trainer Elliott Walden and took out her own trainer's license last year, two things in her operation have been consistent: Wins, and a struggle to maintain a viable number of horses.

Ritter's stable numbered just six at the conclusion of the Fair Grounds meet at Louisiana Downs in late January. When the string becomes that short, it's getting down to basic survival time. Then the phone rang. It was Walden, who helps manage the sprawling equine holdings of WinStar Farm.

Slick City Nites will get his first two-turn test on Saturday night, when he stretches out to one mile for the $40,000 Texas Heritage for 3-year-olds at Sam Houston Race Park.

The nine entrants for the race also include Rungius, who is also entered in Saturday night's $50,000 Sportsman's Paradise at Evangeline Downs; Herman Muttster, a winner the last time he raced over one mile; and Brick Fight, who won a division of the Texas Stallion Stakes at one mile at 41-1.

An evenly matched group of nine have been entered at Evangeline Downs in the $50,000 Sportsman's Paradise Stakes, a one-mile test for 3-year-olds.

Rungius, a Cat Thief colt, should be a slight favorite based on class alone if he races at Evangeline rather than at Sam Houston, where he also is entered in Saturday's Texas Heritage.

Up 'n Blumin, off since her July 2005 win at Horsemen's Park in Omaha, heads a lineup of six Nebraska-bred fillies and mares going six furlongs in the $25,000-added Orphan Kist Stakes at Fonner Park.

Saturday's $50,000 Bill Thomas Memorial Handicap at Sunland Park may very well end with a Bang. The top sprinter on the circuit, Bang carries high weight of 123 pounds in the 6 1/2-furlong race for 3-year-olds and upward. The race has a field of six.

Bang, trained by Jackie Payton, comes off two straight victories here, including a 2 3/4-length victory in the Jan. 28 Budweiser Handicap. He owns the track record for 6 1/2 furlongs and 1,000 yards at Sunland, where he is 5 for 6. Tony Noguez rides.

The peaking pair of Mongoose Separatist and Mongoose Hawkette, bred and owned by drag racing hall of fame member Tom "the Mongoose" McEwen, show promise coming into the $140,000 Maiden Stakes on Saturday night at Los Alamitos.

PORTLAND, Ore. - Tom Two unveiled a new dimension in last Sunday's one-mile Greek Native Invitational Handicap at Portland Meadows, and trainer Delmer Webb said he feels it will come in handy down the road.

Under Juan Gutierrez, who was subbing for regular rider Javier Ortega, Tom Two came from fifth in a field of six 3-year-olds to defeat the good filly Lawanda by 2 1/4 lengths in 1:43.02. All five of his previous wins, including four stakes, had come on the engine.

Today's card at Aqueduct Racetrack was cancelled because of the threat of a major winter storm whose arrival in the Metropolitan New York area was expected by late morning. Forecasts call for from four to six inches of snow coupled with a wintry mix of sleet and freezing rain.

As for Thursday's card, the seventh, eighth and ninth races will be brought back as extra races for Saturday; the second and fourth will be brought back as extras for Sunday.

Racing will resume on Friday with first-race post at 12:30 p.m. Eastern.