INGLEWOOD, Calif. - A month after arguably the best performance of her career, can end a long drought in stakes in Sunday's $100,000 Desert Stormer Handicap at Hollywood Park.

On May 7 at Churchill Downs, Puxa Saco finished third at 29-1 in the Grade 1 Humana Distaff Handicap at seven furlongs. The performance marked the third consecutive stakes in which she had been beaten less than a length.

Sunday's Grade 3 Desert Stormer could give Puxa Saco her first stakes win since the 2002 Moccasin Stakes, which was run over this track.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. - The ongoing nightmare of 2005 can end for trainer Jim Cassidy on Sunday.

Through Thursday, Cassidy has just 1 victory from 41 starters this year. Some of his pre-season hopes were dashed, and others have yet to work out.

Ticker Tape, a finalist for the Eclipse Award as the nation's outstanding turf female of 2004, has made only one start, finishing last of seven in the Comp USA Turf Mile at Churchill Downs on May 7. Some of Cassidy's European imports from late 2004 were sent to trainer Wally Dollase after a breakup with owner Jim Ford.

Trainer Eoin Harty might be a native of Ireland and a resident of Southern California, but he is at home in Texas. He won his first Lone Star Park stakes last Monday, when R Fast Lady made it three wins in a row with her victory in the $150,000 Stonerside.

Harty's only other stakes starter at the meet was Shamoan, who finished second in the Grade 3, $300,000 Lone Star Derby.

For Harty, successful invasions of Texas are nothing new. Harty is a former assistant to Bob Baffert, who has won just about all of the major stakes at Lone Star.

MIAMI - Nightmare Affair has never won a race on the turf, but the 4-year-old is in such good form that trainer Manny Azpurua is confident he will win Sunday's Blazing Sword whether the overnight stakes is run on the grass as planned or transferred to dirt.

Mike Pino doesn't need to do any head-scratching to jog his memory when asked to recall the first stakes winner he trained 18 years ago.

That's because Pino's experiment with Ten Keys turned out so well. Ten Keys, claimed for $14,500, tried the turf for the first time in the 1987 Nick Shuk Memorial at Delaware Park. Ten Keys not only won that $15,000 stakes, but went on to win 17 more added-money events and earned more than $1.1 million on grass.

At seven furlongs, the Zen Handicap might be too far for Silver Bid, and too short for Wiggins. But any horse can succeed at any distance, given the right competition, and one of these two top-shelf Illinois-breds should emerge from Sunday's $40,000 Zen at Arlington Park with a win.

In fact, the people closest to both horses believe the seven-furlong trip is no issue.

"I'm not concerned about the distance at all," said Joel Berndt, Silver Bid's trainer. "He won here last year at seven furlongs. He was second going a mile and 70 yards."

BOSSIER CITY, La. - J.D.'s Blue Bayou, an impressive winner of the Inaugural Handicap at Evangeline Downs in April, returns to the main track and a sprint distance on Sunday as he heads the field for the Arcadia Stakes at Louisiana Downs. The six-furlong sprint for Louisiana-bred 3-year-olds drew a field of 11 and carries a $50,000 purse.

After trying two turns on the grass in the Excalibur Stakes here on

A return to dirt and to sprinting could be key for Pleasant Gulch, who carries high weight of 123 pounds in Sunday's $15,000 Yavapai Classic Handicap. The six-furlong event for fillies and mares has lured a field of 10 and goes as the eighth race on a nine-race card.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Now this is the Churchill Downs that horseplayers have come to know and love.

Contrary to the somewhat humdrum racing that has taken place here in recent weeks, the sixth race on Sunday typifies what long has made Churchill a favorite among locals and simulcast players. A full field has been entered in the six-furlong race, a $52,000 second-level allowance that promises to attract a wagering battle as spirited as what may ensue on the racetrack.

OCEANPORT, N.J. - Eddie King knew he was going fast aboard Procreate in the Yankee Affair Stakes at Gulfstream Park.

He had no idea, though, that a world record was unfolding.

"I didn't know he was going that fast," King said. "I knew he accelerated when I asked him. I'm still a little surprised. It was phenomenal."

Procreate, a 7-year-old gelding, ran the five furlongs on the turf in 53.79 seconds.

"I certainly wasn't expecting a world record," said trainer John Zimmerman.