SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Wild Desert, the Queen's Plate winner who was being pointed to the $1 million Travers here on Aug. 27, will be forced to miss the remainder of his 3-year-old season because of a suspensory injury, trainer Richard Dutrow Jr. said Thursday.

Dutrow noticed something amiss with Wild Desert following his six-furlong breeze in 1:15.28 here Monday. The horse was shipped to the Rood and Riddle Equine Clinic in Lexington, Ky., where Dr. Larry Bramlage diagnosed a strain to the suspensory ligament in his right hind leg.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Path of Thunder finally got the firm turf she desires in the $67,100 first division of the on Thursday at Saratoga Race Course. But, like a late-night infomercial, there was more. She also was handed the lead and a soft pace over that firm course, and the combination proved lethal for her nine rivals.

DEL MAR, Calif. - The $150,000 La Jolla Handicap at Del Mar on Saturday amounts to a bonus start for the undefeated El Roblar.

After the colt won a division of the Oceanside Stakes in his turf debut on July 20, trainer Richard Mandella said he planned to wait for the $400,000 Del Mar Derby on Sept. 5 for El Roblar's next start. But the way El Roblar trained after the Oceanside convinced Mandella to add the Grade 2 La Jolla Handicap to the schedule.

DEL MAR, Calif. - Splendid Blended, one of the nation's top 3-year-old fillies, has been retired because of concern over a suspensory ligament, trainer Neil Drysdale said Thursday.

Drysdale made the decision earlier this week after he was unhappy with the way Splendid Blended worked seven furlongs at Del Mar last weekend.

"We were having some trouble with her upper suspensory," Drysdale said. "I didn't like the way she worked."

Owned by Peter Vegso, Splendid Blended is expected to be shipped to Kentucky on Aug. 19 and will be bred next year.

While a number of rich 3-year-old stakes have struggled to attract horses this year, the West Virginia Derby lured an incredible 20 entrants Thursday. The rules of the race limit the field to 12 starters, plus four also-eligibles, and four horses were excluded when post positions were drawn.

The Grade 3, $750,000 will be run for the 36th time Sunday at Mountaineer Race Track and Gaming Resort in Chester, W.Va.

OCEANPORT, N.J. - So Gifted is an interesting new face in the $55,000 Sneakbox Stakes Saturday at Monmouth Park.

The five-furlong Sneakbox on the turf attracted many of the leading grass sprinters in the region. So Gifted will ship in from Kentucky for trainer Grant Hofmans following a pair of excellent grass sprints in the Midwest.

So Gifted was a seven-length allowance winner on June 23 at Churchill Downs and followed that with a second-place finish in the Smile Stakes at Arlington Park.

Hollywood Park laid off approximately 18 employees on Wednesday, including Allen Gutterman, the vice-president, marketing, and James Miller, paymaster of purses. Employees in accounting and information technology were also laid off, according to a source with knowledge of the situation.

The layoffs occurred a month after the Bay Meadows Land Co. purchased Hollywood Park from Churchill Downs Inc. for $260 million. The transaction is expected to close on Sept. 23.

The total average daily handle increased slightly during the Colonial Downs summer meet, but average attendance and ontrack handle were down significantly, according to figures released by the track.

Colonial closed Tuesday after a 40-day meet, up from 34 days last year, with its total average daily handle up 2 percent, to $1,082,819 a day. Average daily attendance dropped 6 percent to 2,028, while average ontrack handle declined 14 percent to $170,125.

Cole Norman has saddled the last two winners of the $100,000 Evangeline Mile, this meeting's premier race in the handicap division, and he comes into Saturday's edition packing a powerful one-two punch. He will send out Absent Friend, winner of the Grade 3 Essex Handicap at Oaklawn Park earlier in the year, and Shaky Town, recent winner of the Bobby Johnson Memorial Stakes at Lone Star Park.

The two horses are not coupled in the wagering.

Graded-stakes winner Savorthetime will race at her seventh different track this season when she meets 10 other filly and mare rivals in the $40,000 Dean Kutz Stakes, the 6 1/2-furlong feature Saturday at Canterbury Park.

The Kutz, being run for the first time, is named after the former leading rider at Canterbury, who died of cancer at age 48 last September.