BOSSIER CITY, La. - The 4-year-old filly Homecoming last started in a stakes race at Hollywood Park. Commercialize raced a couple of times at Del Mar last summer. Baena and Legislady have held their own in Churchill Downs turf allowance races. But at the Fair Grounds meet at Louisiana Downs, it has paid to dig a little deeper, scrutinize a little longer. Long-priced winners have become standard fare here this winter, and Thursday's featured 10th race - a second-level turf allowance with a $40,000 claiming option - may not go to the most obvious horses on paper.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Trainer Barclay Tagg had been hoping to make the Grade 1 Donn Handicap next month with Funny Cide. But after Funny Cide finished seventh in his comeback Saturday in the six-furlong , Tagg is rethinking his plans.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Trainer Dallas Stewart has had Cotopaxi in his barn for only two months but so far likes what he sees. He will be able to make a better judgment about Cotopaxi by late Thursday afternoon after she makes her East Coast debut as the one to beat in the featured eighth race at Gulfstream Park.

was turned over to Stewart after being purchased by owners John Gunther and Anthony Holmes at the Keeneland November sales. She has worked four times since shipping to Gulfstream, most recently drilling a bullet five furlongs in 1:00 over the main track on Sunday.

Jockey Ken Tohill rode his 2,000th career winner, guiding Dee Dee's Diner to victory for trainer Henry Dominguez in the 10th race Tuesday at Sunland Park.

Tohill, 43, was the leading rider at Sunland the last two years and is dominating the standings again this season. Tohill has been riding for more than 25 years, most recently as a fixture in the Southwest for about the past three years. He first made his name riding in northern California and on the California fair circuit. Dee Dee's Diner, the favorite in the featured allowance race, paid $4.80.

ARCADIA, Calif. - Looking at the field for the race-seven feature Thursday at Santa Anita, a handicapper might get a funny feeling - didn't they just run this race the other day?

A second-condition turf sprint Jan. 6 was decimated when it was switched to the main track because of concerns about the wet surface at the dirt crossing. Three turf-only horses scratched - Kewen, Richebourg, and Head of the House - and were re-entered in race 7 Thursday, along with two Jan. 6 also-eligibles - Wild Wadi and Art Moderne.

ARCADIA, Calif. - Although a dazzling comeback by Too Much Bling on Sunday stamped the colt as one of the most exciting 3-year-olds at Santa Anita, trainer Bob Baffert and majority owner Stonerside Stable will resist Derby temptation.

It won't be that tough, because hopes remain high for another colt owned by Stonerside.

"Their Derby horse is Bob and John," Baffert said.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. - The resounding win by Achilles of Troy in last Saturday's Count Fleet Stakes was another reminder that a good 3-year-old can come from anywhere. While there may not be any 3-year-olds with that kind of talent in Thursday's featured eighth race, six of them were good enough to run at Saratoga last summer, and three subsequently ran in open stakes.

All told, a field of 11 entered the six-furlong optional claimer, headed by the first three finishers from a similar sprint on Dec. 14: Time to Grow Up, Out of Rock, and Skip Along Jet.

SAN MATEO, Calif. - Trainer Lynn Woolsey knows that some people will think Marcutio freaked in his last race and will have trouble duplicating the performance.

He earned a 101 Beyer while winning a $20,000 claimer at a mile over a good turf course at Golden Gate Fields. It was his second straight win after capturing a $12,500 claimer in his previous start.

"I'm hoping he's the horse I always thought he was," said Woolsey, who entered the 7-year-old gelding against eight rivals in a $62,500 optional claimer on Thursday at 1 1/8 miles on the turf.

Arlington Park's proposed 2006 stakes schedule, nearly a carbon copy of 2005, was approved Tuesday by the Illinois Racing Board.

Arlington is in the midst of breaking in a new director of racing, Kevin Greely, while still seeking a successor to departed president Cliff Goodrich, and Arlington's parent company, Churchill Downs Inc., apparently saw no need to alter the schedule put in place last season.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. - When it comes to her horses, trainer Jennifer Pedersen is conservative by nature. That's why she expressed some trepidation about running Achilles of Troy in last Saturday's , nine days after he won a maiden race.

The person Pedersen works for, Ernie Paragallo, is anything but conservative. That's why he ran Achilles of Troy in the Count Fleet and then gave his trainer some ribbing after Achilles of Troy won by 14 lengths and set a stakes record by running the mile and 70 yards in 1:39.61.