LEXINGTON, Ky. - Anyone with the prescience to believe a maiden could win an early-season grass stakes for 3-year-olds at Gulfstream Park was rewarded with a $79.20 mutuel when Interpatation captured the Palm Beach Stakes on March 26.

nosed out the odds-on favorite, Tadreeb, when he stunned the Gulfstream faithful in the Grade 3 Palm Beach, and fans should find themselves trying to gauge the validity of that race when they sit down to handicap the Thursday feature at Keeneland, the $100,000 Forerunner Stakes.

GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas - Trainer Cody Autrey looks to continue his hot streak at Lone Star Park on Thursday night with Good Humor Gal, who should be favored in the seventh race, an entry-level allowance on the turf.

is one of four horses Autrey will start on the card, and each is capable of adding to the 4-for-9 record Autrey compiled over the first week of racing at Lone Star.

Of Autrey's five horses who didn't win in the first week of the meet, four of them ran second and one third.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Handicappers trying to solve Thursday's $35,000 feature on the Gulfstream Park turf course have some interesting facts to sort out before deciding who they think might win the five-furlong allowance sprint.

SAN MATEO, Calif. - How lucky is trainer Donna Elordi?

On Sunday, she won a 16-way shake for the 5-year-old mare Royal Kleven at Bay Meadows, taking the mare for herself. The 16 potential buyers Royal Kleven attracted is believed to be the most ever for a horse in a claiming race in northern California.

"I never win, even in a two-way shake," Elordi said. "I still can't believe I won.

"All the claiming trainers were there: Art Sherman, Jerry Hollendorfer, Billy Morey. Hopefully, they were all right about her."

ARCADIA, Calif. - Jockey Mark Guidry had nearly reached the lead aboard Shadow of Illinois in Monday's $107,000 when he lost his whip. The extra baggage was not missed.

"I didn't need it anymore," he said.

With a wide rally, Shadow of Illinois ($16.60) scored a one-length win in the San Simeon. He finished about 6 1-2 furlongs on turf in 1:12.62, giving trainer Anthony Saavedra his first stakes win at Santa Anita.

Guidry had Shadow of Illinois in fifth on the hillside portion of the course, and moved him into contention as the field crossed onto the main oval.

Spring signals the start of trout season for fishermen and baseball season for America's sports fans. It's also a special time of the year for Maryland racing.

The marquee meet of Maryland's Thoroughbred season begins Wednesday, when Pimlico Race Course, which held its first race in the fall of 1870, reopens for 39 days through June 12.

Although the meet has been shortened by three weeks from last year, it still features 26 stakes worth a collective $4 million, including the 130th running of the $1 million Preakness Stakes on May 21.

LEXINGTON, Ky. - John T. Ward Jr. has been around quality racehorses his entire life, having grown up just outside the back gate of Keeneland. So when he talks about a horse in glowing terms, it's time to start listening.

"This is one nice, nice filly," Ward said recently about Eccellenza, a Chilean champion who will make her North American debut Wednesday in the $100,000 Doubledogdare Stakes at Keeneland. "She might not win first time we run her, but I'll tell you, she's got tons of ability."

LEXINGTON, Ky. - Rockport Harbor arrived Sunday evening at Keeneland following an uneventful van ride from his winter quarters at Oaklawn Park and is all set to run Saturday in the final major for the 131st Kentucky Derby, the $325,000 Coolmore Lexington Stakes at Keeneland.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Though he won't make a final decision until later in the week, trainer Shug McGaughey is still seriously considering sending Survivalist, the Gotham winner and Wood Memorial runner-up, to the Kentucky Derby.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Wednesday's feature race at Aqueduct could be used as a stepping-stone to either the Westchester or Bold Ruler, graded handicap races run during the opening week of the Belmont Park meet.

If Aggadan runs well in Wednesday's $56,000 optional claiming race, and Mother Nature cooperates with enough rain Saturday - showers are in the forecast - to transfer the Grade 3 Fort Marcy Handicap to the dirt, trainer Richard Dutrow Jr. said he plans to wheel Aggadan right back in the Fort Marcy.

"I like the two-, three-, or four-day thing," Dutrow said.