LEXINGTON, Ky. - In the Gold gave trainer Nick Zito a major contender for the 131st Kentucky Oaks when the filly powered from last to win the $250,000 at Keeneland before 9,096 on a postcard-perfect Thursday afternoon.

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - Munificence already looks strong in the $75,000 Northern Spur Breeders' Cup for 3-year-olds Saturday at Oaklawn Park. But he could look even better about an hour before the race if Greater Good wins the Grade 2, $1 million Arkansas Derby.

Munificence was second to Greater Good in the $100,000 Southwest Stakes two starts ago, and in his most recent start won the $50,000 Sportsman's Paradise at Delta Downs to run his career record to 4 for 5.

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - Lewis Lakin's influence on the Triple Crown trail this year involves not just Greater Good, a horse he co-bred and owns. Lakin is also the co-breeder of Real Dandy, who will run against Greater Good in the Grade 2, $1 million on Saturday, as well as Sort It Out, a stakes-winning 3-year-old trained by Bob Baffert.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Better Talk Now, the upset winner of last October's Breeders' Cup Turf, will launch his 6-year-old campaign in the Grade 3, $100,000 Fort Marcy Handicap here on April 23, trainer Graham Motion said.

The Fort Marcy, run at 1 1/16 miles, is the first turf stakes of the year in New York. Better Talk Now is 2 for 2 over the Aqueduct course, including a victory in the Grade 2 Knickerbocker Handicap in 2003.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. - The connections of the best 3-year-old colt of 2004 return to New York on Saturday with an intriguing 3-year-old filly who will try stakes company for the first time in the $150,000 Comely at Aqueduct.

Owners Roy and Patricia Chapman, trainer John Servis, and jockey Stewart Elliott - who campaigned Smarty Jones a year ago - will send out Last Toots in the Grade 2 Comely. If her last two races are any indication, Last Toots just may be the horse to beat in the one-mile race, which drew a field of nine.

ARCADIA, Calif. - Stanley Park was a furlong from winning the Grade 2 San Luis Rey Handicap last month when trainer John Shirreffs began to relax.

In his third race after a 15-month layoff, Stanley Park was performing brilliantly, rallying from eighth to win the San Luis Rey at 1 1/2 miles on turf.

"He made a very long sustained run," Shirreffs said. "At the quarter pole, he looked so good. He didn't look like he was struggling. He still had a lot left."

ARCADIA, Calif. - The $100,000 La Puente Stakes at Santa Anita on Saturday could very easily be a repeat of the Pasadena Stakes on March 19. In a five-horse field, there are not a lot of finishing combinations.

The La Puente has drawn the first three finishers from the Pasadena - Chinese Dragon, Eastern Sand, and Shamoan - and two outsiders, Cat a Cold Eye and Goodwillambassador.

ARCADIA, Calif. - Don't count trainer Bob Baffert out of the Triple Crown just yet.

Baffert said Thursday that he plans to send Sort It Out to the $325,000 Lexington Stakes at Keeneland on April 23.

Sort It Out finished third in the $500,000 WinStar Derby at Sunland Park on April 2. He was beaten 1 1/4 lengths by Thor's Echo after closing from sixth. Owned by Preferred Pals Stable and Stonerside Stable, Sort It Out has won 4 of 11 starts and $207,375.

"He needs distance," Baffert said.

VANCOUVER, British Columbia - For the past few years, the state of the horse racing industry in British Columbia has been very volatile. Hastings, which is the only major track in the province, has had three different operators since 2001.

At the beginning of the 2004 racing season, Great Canadian Gaming Corporation and Peter Wall purchased Hastings from Woodbine Entertainment Inc. Great Canadian bought out Wall last fall, and judging by the moves the company made over the winter, it appears this owner is here to stay.

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - Top Commander seized the lead from the start and never relinquished it en route to a 1 1/2-length win in the Grade 3, $150,000 at Oaklawn Park on Thursday. Forest Grove finished second in the race, a half-length in front of third-place finisher That Tat.

The Count Fleet is one of the nine stakes that make up the Racing Festival of the South over the last six days of the meet at Oaklawn.