ARCADIA, Calif. - Three months ago, trainer Roger Stein could not have envisioned a day such as Saturday, when he nearly pulled an upset in the Santa Anita Derby with General John B.

At the beginning of the year, Stein underwent surgery to have part of the big toe on his left foot removed after the onset of a bone infection. His weekend radio show, a fixture in Southern California since the early 1990's, was off the air.

Having a gelding run second in the Santa Anita Derby and become an outsider for the Kentucky Derby seemed improbable.

CALGARY, Alberta - Trainer Dale Saunders knows what to do with a good horse, and he may have one on his hands in Captain Tommy G, a Kentucky-bred son of Captain Bodgit who will make his seasonal debut Wednesday.

Captain Tommy G has done little wrong, having turned in three strong efforts last fall at Northlands Park, and has trained forwardly this spring. Saunders eschewed the four-furlong races on the first two weekends of the meet and will start Captain Tommy G in a six-furlong optional claimer that drew a modest field of six 3-year-olds.

The 31-day spring meeting at Golden Gate Fields in Albany, Calif., will offer 12 stakes races, one fewer than last fall's 59-day meet, but with $125,000 more in purse money. The stakes are worth a collective $975,000.

The meet runs from May 11 through June 19.

The Golden Bear, one of three stakes canceled at the last meet, has been brought back for the spring with a $150,000 purse.

There are no graded stakes, but five of the 12 stakes, including the first three, will have purses of at least $100,000. Only three of the fall-winter meet's races had $100,000 purses.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Left in the wake of Bellamy Road's devastating 17 1/2-length victory in Saturday's $750,000 were six rivals, the majority of whom will be heading anywhere but to Louisville, Ky., and a rematch in the Kentucky Derby.

SAN MATEO, Calif. - Lost in the Fog's next race will come at Golden Gate Fields in a race that apparently is being run, at least in part, to attract him. The race, the $150,000 Golden Bear Breeders' Cup Handicap, is for 3-year-olds at six furlongs on May 14.

The Golden Bear traditionally has been the first Derby prep race of the Golden Gate meeting, followed by the Gold Rush and the California Derby. Last year it was scheduled in the fall as a sprint for 2-year-olds, but the race was canceled when not enough horses were entered.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - John Zimmerman is about to wrap up his second season as a Gulfstream Park regular, and the longtime trainer, among the nation's leaders in races won, will be leaving town in style.

Last Saturday, the Zimmerman-trained Procreate set a world record for five furlongs on the turf when he covered the distance in 53.79 seconds en route to a 5 1/4-length victory in Gulfstream's Yankee Affair Stakes.

On a weekend when romps seemed the norm in stakes, More Smoke did his part by running off to a 14 1/2-length victory in the Grade 3, $103,887 Lafayette Stakes at Keeneland.

Trained by John Zimmerman and ridden by Clinton Potts, More Smoke grabbed the early lead in the six-furlong Lafayette and never looked back. Crimson Stag finished second, a half-length before Razor, the 7-10 favorite in a field of just four 3-year-olds.

Lukfata Louis remained unbeaten over Fonner Park's five-eighths-mile oval with a 2 3/4-length victory in the $25,000 Budweiser-Tondi Handicap.

Trained by Temple Rushton, Lukfata Louis had won the Grasmick Handicap last year and a money-won allowance this meet. Don Frazier was aboard as Lukfata Louis took command turning for home. He covered the six furlongs in 1:12.80 over a track rated fast.

Lukfata Louis returned $4.60 as the 6-5 favorite in a field of eight. What About David set the early pace and held on for second, 2 1/2 lengths in front of Thundering Verzy in third.

Noon Win ($8.60) stalked pacesetter Queens Over Jacks to the stretch and rallied to defeat that rival by 2 1/4 lengths under jockey Ernesto Oro in the six-furlong $40,000 Royal North Stakes at Beulah Park.

Joe Martin trains Noon Win, who was making her seasonal debut in the Royal North, a race restricted to Ohio-bred 3-year-old fillies. The victory was Noon Win's fifth in seven starts and her fourth stakes win.

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - Two Trail Sioux won her fifth straight race Sunday when she stepped into stakes company for the first time in the $100,000 Bayakoa at Oaklawn and rolled to a one-length win over Platinum Ballet. It was another length back in third to Casual Attitude.

The Bayakoa is one of nine stakes that annually make up the Racing Festival of the South during the last six days of the meet at Oaklawn. The Festival opened Saturday with the Grade 1 Apple Blossom won by Dream of Summer and the Grade 2 Oaklawn Handicap won by Grand Reward.