Sam Houston Race Park will set up a satellite Alex's Lemonade Stand at the track on Belmont Stakes Day, June 11. Proceeds from the stand will go to both the national charity for juvenile cancer that has gained increased awareness through Preakness winner Afleet Alex, and the Texas Children's Hospital cancer unit in Houston.

Sam Houston decided to set up the lemonade stand after being contacted by a representative from the Texas Children's Hospital, according to Martha Claussen, a track spokeswoman.

Apprentice rider Chris Creary, who recently moved his tack to Thistledown from Gulfstream Park, scored his first Thistledown victory in Monday's first race aboard Put in Bay for trainer Anthony Cucinotta. Creary didn't wait long to notch his second victory, as he guided War Room to the wire first in the seventh race for owner-trainer Rodney Faulkner.

ELMONT, N.Y. - Thursday's featured eighth race drew a field of seven older sprinters, and as is often the case during the early stages of Belmont Park's spring meet, bettors are confronted with several horses returning from layoffs in the six-furlong allowance with an optional claiming price of $75,000.

Show Boot, the pace-call leader in eight of his last 11 dirt races, has been idle for longer than three months, since a runner-up finish in Aqueduct's Hollie Hughes Handicap.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Two races into the Triple Crown, a horse might show signs of fatigue. But not this year's playful Kentucky Derby winner, Giacomo. He was full of himself Tuesday morning at Hollywood Park, camped at the front of his stall while his nose bumped and tossed the hayrack like it was a tetherball.

The display of energy is one reason trainer John Shirreffs and owners Jerry and Ann Moss are looking forward to shipping Giacomo to New York for a Belmont Stakes rubber match with Afleet Alex.

ALBANY, Calif. - There are always questions when a horse comes back from a long layoff.

Handicappers will have to decide whether to back How Bout Jose, who will make his first start since Jan. 1, 2004, on Thursday's program at Golden Gate Fields. He has six rivals in a $40,000 claimer at 1 1/16 miles.

This is not the first time How Bout Jose has spent more than a year on the sidelines. He was off from May 24, 2002, until June 7, 2003.

CHICAGO - The 3-year-old colt Quiet Style was a sharp winner of his most recent start, on May 7 at Hawthorne. Too sharp, in fact, for his trainer's liking.

"He didn't relax too good the other day," said Hugh Robertson, who owns and trains Quiet Style. "He wanted to run up there and show more speed than I wanted him to show."

INGLEWOOD, Calif. - A troubled trip sometimes can provide a valid alibi for a disappointing finish, or be merely a flimsy excuse for a poor performance.

It is a crucial dilemma in the seventh race Thursday at Hollywood Park. Single Market will run 1 1/16 miles on turf in a one-other-than allowance race for 3-year-old fillies, and handicappers must evaluate her fourth-place finish last out as the even-money favorite.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - May Gator last won on Labor Day weekend, and now, here it is, nearly Memorial Day weekend. Trainer Steve Flint thought he had picked a winning spot for his standout turf mare during Kentucky Derby week, "but it was one of those typical Derby week allowances," he said, and despite running hard, May Gator lost for the seventh straight time, finishing third.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Don't Get Mad is scheduled for a half-mile breeze after the Thursday card at Churchill Downs and remains an outside possibility for the June 11 Belmont Stakes, trainer Ron Ellis said Tuesday from California.

The training schedule of Don't Get Mad, fourth-place finisher in the

May 7 Kentucky Derby, was revised because of a quarantine order. Three barns at Churchill are operating under quarantine guidelines because of a recent equine herpes virus outbreak. Don't Get Mad, the only horse Ellis has at Churchill, tested negative for the virus.

Horses trained by Ronny Werner at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky., were cleared on Tuesday for training during specially designated times, meaning horses in all three barns who have been quarantined since May 13 at Churchill are now being allowed to train.