When the Valdale Stakes is run Saturday at Turfway Park, trainer Bernie Flint may have already attained a coveted racing milestone: 3,000 wins.

Trainer Richard Small's chief competition might come from his own barn when he saddles two of the prime contenders for Saturday's $85,000 Maryland Racing Media Handicap at Laurel Park.

Small's coupled entry of Sticky and Dynamic Deputy bring the best credentials into the 1 1/8-mile race for fillies and mares.

Both of Small's horses are 4-year-old fillies with 4-for-7 records. The one significant difference between them is that Sticky already owns a stakes victory. She got up by a head in the Maryland Million Oaks at nine furlongs last October.

CHICAGO - This is about the fourth life for Char's Bob'n Robin, a 7-year-old gelding who has made it halfway to 100 starts as he launches his sixth season of racing at the National Jockey Club meet on Saturday at Hawthorne. Once a promising young Illinois-bred in 2002, Char's Bob'n Robin let his star fade in subsequent seasons, and when the trainer John Witthauer claimed him in the spring of 2004, Char's Bob'n Robin was available for an $8,000 price tag.

ALBANY, Calif. - Trainer Jeff Bonde needed patience in the development of Wellingtons Arch, and his patience may pay off in Saturday's Golden Gate Fields feature, a $50,000 optional claimer at 1 1/16 miles for fillies and mares.

has shown improvement in her last two starts, both 1 1/16-mile dirt races, running second and then winning at the first-level allowance condition. If she shows more improvement on Saturday, her five rivals will be running for second money. She will be tough to beat, in fact, if she simply repeats her last start.

It is safe to say that after wins in 23 of 46 starts Whosleavingwho knows his way around Los Alamitos.

When Whosleavingwho was placed first after a rival was disqualified in the Los Alamitos Winter Championship trials on Feb. 4, trainer Paul Jones was convinced that the 8-year-old gelding was following habit when he started down a path to the winner's circle.

"He knew where it was," Jones said.

Spanish Chestnut, who in his last race carved out the pace in last May's Kentucky Derby, makes a surprise invasion for Saturday's $40,000 Coyote Handicap at Turf Paradise. Eight 4-year-olds and up are entered in the six-furlong stakes, a steppingstone to the $75,000 Phoenix Gold Cup on March 18.

PORTLAND, Ore. - Speedy Wheatie is undefeated and untried following easy wins over maiden special weight and allowance company, but he will be tested for class when he meets several of the top sprinters on the Portland Meadows grounds in Saturday's Lark's Legacy Invitational Handicap at 5 1/2 furlongs.

GRAND ISLAND, Neb. - Did, selected as the state's top 2-year-old at last weekend's Nebraska Thoroughbred Breeders' Association banquet, heads a field of 10 3-year-olds going a half-mile in the $10,000 Bachman Stakes on Saturday at Fonner Park.

Charles Town Races in West Virginia will ease restrictions on ship-ins beginning Sunday, an official of the track said Thursday. The move comes in response to the apparent containment of an outbreak of equine herpesvirus in Maryland. In addition, Penn National in Grantville, Pa., will begin rolling back a similar policy on March 7, track officials said.

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - Baghdaria is long on credentials, talent, and heart - three assets that could carry her to her fourth straight win Friday, when she faces 12 others in the $50,000 Martha Washington Stakes at Oaklawn Park.

The one-mile race for 3-year-old fillies is the first of two local preps for the Grade 2, $250,000 Fantasy.