OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Thursday's featured eighth race came up tough - so tough that the only horse in the field never to have run in a graded stake is the fastest one.

Among the six older males going 1 1/16 miles in this $58,000 allowance/optional claimer, Bahama John is the only runner with triple-digit Beyer Speed Figures on dirt, a feat he achieved in both of his 2005 starts - a big win in the mud last April and a close third in his recent return from a layoff.

Out-of-state simulcast bettors embraced Hawthorne Race Course's 2005 fall-winter meet, which concluded Monday, but the local fan base continued to erode, with an 11-percent drop in ontrack handle during the season.

After firing off eight consecutive wins in New Mexico, Mr. Trieste takes his show to the Fair Grounds meet at Louisiana Downs, where he will make his graded stakes debut in Saturday's $400,000 .

SAN MATEO, Calif. - Trainer Greg Gilchrist was happy to greet an old friend this week when Lost in the Fog returned to his barn at Golden Gate Fields.

Lost in the Fog got two months' rest and relaxation at the Southern Chase Farm in Florida, where he grew up, following his seventh-place finish in the Breeders' Cup Sprint, which snapped his 10-race winning streak. His Beyer Speed Figure of 98 also snapped his streak of triple-digit Beyer Figures at 10.

Jockey Jorge Chavez is expected to be sidelined from six to eight weeks after fracturing his collarbone when he was thrown from his mount in Monday's 12th and final race at Calder. Chavez, who needed to win the race to tie Manoel Cruz for the 2005 Tropical-at-Calder riding title, will not require surgery.

ARCADIA, Calif. - No one hit the pick six on a soggy Monday at Santa Anita, so there is a carryover in the pick six to Thursday's card of $137,596.24.

There is no racing at Santa Anita on Tuesday or Wednesday.

Thursday's races begin at 1 p.m. Pacific time. There is an eight-race card, with the pick six beginning with the day's third race. Post time for that race should be about 2 p.m. Pacific time.

ARCADIA, Calif. - The sloppy track at Santa Anita on Monday sucked the left front shoe right off of With Distinction, but even with three shoes, he persevered to outlast Jungle Prince and Jet West in a driving, three-horse finish, in the Grade 3, $112,100 .

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Gulfstream Park may look more like a construction site than a racetrack when its 2006 meeting opens Wednesday. But the inconvenience created by a grandstand that will be only partially completed on opening day should have little effect on a racing program that figures to be stronger and classier this winter than it has been in many years.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - For the second straight winter, opening day at Gulfstream Park will be shrouded in uncertainty and a refuge for only curiosity-seekers and the most die-hard racing fans. But unlike last year, when patrons were herded together in temporary quarters throughout the entire meet, the 2006 season will get better with every passing day as Gulfstream Park's new state-of-the-art grandstand nears completion, ushering in a new era for south Florida racing.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - The top south Florida-based candidate for the 132nd Kentucky Derby is First Samurai, but what does that really mean? In recent winters, horses such as Greenwood Lake, A P Valentine, Repent, Sky Mesa, Eurosilver, and Proud Accolade have shipped into Florida with similarly lofty reputations, and all came up far short on the first Saturday in May.

As a group, however, Derby hopefuls in south Florida perennially and deservedly evoke great hope, and as the 2006 Gulfstream Park meet kicks off Wednesday, this year is no exception.