ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. - Megahertz long has been the queen of California grass racing, but her impact has been non-existent outside her home circuit. So when the 6-year-old mare runs Saturday as a top contender in the $750,000 Beverly D. at Arlington Park, she will be trying to expand her horizons - all the way to a divisional Eclipse Award.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - One day after it was announced that the Coaching Club American Oaks winner Smuggler would miss the Grade 1, $750,000 Alabama Stakes here on Aug. 20, Saratoga's most prestigious stakes race for 3-year-old fillies lost another of its top contenders on Wednesday when trainer Steve Asmussen said that the Kentucky Oaks winner Summerly had been injured in a recent workout.

Summerly worked six furlongs at Saratoga on Monday, but came out of the drill with a splint bone injury, Asmussen said.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Latice won the first four starts of her career, including last year's French Oaks, which she won as the 9-5 favorite against 16 rivals. On her best day, it's obvious she is top class. But when she returns to the races on Friday at Saratoga, in the $65,000 Waya Stakes, she will be making her first start since December, and will be attempting to rebound after losing her form at the end of last year.

DEL MAR, Calif. - Whether it has been on the workout sheet or in a stakes, the juvenile Bashert has demanded attention this summer.

Tuesday at Del Mar, Bashert worked five furlongs in 57.60, the fastest of 37 recorded works at the distance.

The work may seem very quick for a 2-year-old, but trainer Bill Currin is convinced that it will help the colt when he makes his fourth career start in Sunday's $150,000 Best Pal Stakes over 6 1/2 furlongs at Del Mar.

DEL MAR, Calif. - After being sent around the country in recent months in a failed search for a rich stakes win, Thor's Echo is staying home for Friday's $100,000 Real Good Deal Stakes at Del Mar.

Trainer Doug O'Neill is hoping that sending Thor's Echo in a sprint against statebreds will result in the horse's first stakes win since the $500,000 WinStar Derby at Sunland Park in April.

"He has done a lot of shipping in a short period of time," O'Neill said. "We'd thrown a lot of races at him. Now we're getting back to what he wants to do."

Pimlico Race Course will offer a meat-and-potatoes nine-day race meet beginning Friday, as a short respite for Maryland horsemen weary of shipping to Mid-Atlantic tracks during the summer months.

Average daily purse distribution during the meet will be $170,000, according to Lou Raffetto, the chief operating officer of the Maryland Jockey Club, which owns Pimlico and its sister track, Laurel Park. Two stakes are on the schedule, both $50,000 races restricted to Maryland-bred horses.

Ablo, Dover Dere, and Magna Graduate are among the top horses expected for the Grade 3, $750,000 West Virginia Derby at Mountaineer Race Track on Sunday. The 1 1/8-mile race will anchor an all-stakes card of nine races worth a cumulative $1.5 million, making for the richest day of racing ever in West Virginia.

Dover Dere could go favored following his second-place finish to Surf Cat last out in the Grade 2 Swaps Breeders' Cup at Hollywood Park. He arrived at Mountaineer on Tuesday, and will be ridden by Pat Valenzuela, according to Doug O'Neill, who trains Dover Dere.

VANCOUVER, British Columbia - In her first full year as a trainer, Tracy McCarthy is having a tremendous year. She has won eight races from 32 starts at Hastings, and not included in her stats are three stakes wins in Alberta with Stole One and Hotenuforyoo. Stole One and Hotenuforyoo are trained by McCarthy at Hastings but she runs them under Stuart Simon's name when she ships them to Alberta.

MIAMI - Saturday will be a homecoming in more than one way for Saint Jules, when the lightly raced 2-year-old returns to south Florida to compete in the $75,000 Dr. Fager Stakes.

Saint Jules was sold privately by owner-trainer Henry Collazo to Sanford Goldfarb after he won his only start by four lengths at Calder on May 1. Saint Jules has been training steadily in New York since early July in preparation for Saturday's opening leg of the Florida Stallion Stakes, and his new trainer, Richard Dutrow Jr., is opting to send the colt back to Collazo's barn before the race.

AUBURN, Wash. - Gold Lad is the one to beat when he takes on seven other older horses going 6 1/2 furlongs in Friday's $10,200 feature at Emerald Downs, a $10,000 starter allowance race.

Gold Lad, a 4-year-old son of Gold Fever, was a prompt favorite in his Emerald Downs debut on July 17, scoring by a neck over Irishskysarsmiling in a $25,000 optional claiming event run in 1:09.80 for six furlongs. Before shipping to Emerald, Gold Lad had posted 4 wins from 16 starts in northern California. Leading trainer Tim McCanna has again given the mount to leading rider Kevin Krigger.