PORTLAND, Ore. - Typhoon Aaron will put his undefeated record on the line Saturday

at Portland Meadows when he takes on 10 other 3-year-olds in the $15,000 Oregon Derby at 1 1/8 miles.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Trainer Dominick Schettino suspects that Galloping Grocer may have displaced his palate in the Gotham, so he will equip the New York-bred gelding with a figure-eight bridle for his next start. Judging by his workout on Thursday, it may make a difference.

Wearing a figure-eight bridle for the first time, Galloping Grocer blitzed through a five-furlong work in 59.05 seconds Thursday morning over the Belmont Park training track. It was the fastest of 39 breezes at the distance. Mike Luzzi was aboard for the work.

ARCADIA, Calif. - Inspiring relied on her impressive speed to go undefeated in two starts last summer, including a win in the Grade 3 Sorrento Stakes at Del Mar. That turned out to be her last start of the year, her campaign halted by injury.

On Saturday, Inspiring returns in the $75,000 Santa Paula Stakes over 6 1/2 furlongs for 3-year-old fillies at Santa Anita. This time, she may have a different running style, trainer Bob Baffert said.

Last week in the Lane's End at Turfway Park, Flower Alley proved you could go from maiden winner to stakes winner in one jump. Pegasus Rose is attempting the same feat in Saturday's $250,000 WinStar Sunland Park Oaks. The 1 1/16-mile event for 3-year-old fillies has lured a field of eight, and is one of four stakes on a card topped by the $500,000 WinStar Derby.

ARCADIA, Calif. - Ghostzapper, the reigning Horse of the Year, will miss an intended start in the $500,000 Oaklawn Handicap on April 9 after being found to have a sinus infection earlier this week.

His trainer, Bobby Frankel, said the illness is not a major concern and that Ghostzapper may start in the $150,000 Ben Ali Handicap over 1 1/8 miles at Keeneland on April 28 as a prep to his next major goal, the Metropolitan Handicap at Belmont Park on May 30.

Gulfstream Park tightened the restrictions on one of its barns Thursday, putting a quarantine on horses stabled in Barn 17 until they can be tested for strangles, the bacterial infection that has disrupted training and shipping schedules this spring after outbreaks in Florida and Kentucky.

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - Trainer Steve Asmussen can complete a sweep of the Oaklawn Park sprint series for fillies and mares on Saturday when he sends out the probable favorite, Savorthetime, in the $50,000 Carousel.

Asmussen has won this meet's other sprint stakes for fillies and mares, the $50,000 American Beauty and the $50,000 Spring Fever, with Souris, who is being pointed for the Grade 3, $200,000 Vinery Madison April 13 at Keeneland.

Mauk Four, a front-runner who has finished second in stakes in his last three starts, could get the kind of trip that puts him over the top in Saturday night's $125,000 Gulf Coast Breeders' Cup, the closing-night stakes at Delta Downs.

Mauk Four drew the outside post in a field of seven. In the Feb. 12 Essex and March 13 Razorback, both Grade 3 races at Oaklawn, he broke from the inside and set a pressured pace.

This time around, the outside draw could give leading jockey Guy Smith the option of going to the lead or laying off the pace.

Trainer Bernie Flint, having already won five stakes at Turfway Park since the Churchill Downs meet ended in late November, appears set to win a sixth when he starts Tempus Fugit and Ringo's Cat in the $50,000 Fairway Fun at Turfway Saturday.

Tempus Fugit, likely an overwhelming favorite, gives Flint his best opportunity. She has already won two stakes at Turfway this year: the Feb. 12 Likely Exchange and the March 12 Wintergreen. The first of those two victories came by 3 1/4 lengths, the second by 9 1/4 lengths.

The 3-year-old filly Jet Set Citi easily won her career debut on March 12, earning a 79 Beyer. That's nearly 10 points higher than the next-best sprint figure among her six rivals in the Saturday's $50,000 Smart Halo Stakes at Laurel Park.

A first-time starter often improves as many as 10 points on the Beyer Speed Figure scale in the horse's second career start. That could mean Jet Set Citi will be awfully tough to beat in the six-furlong Smart Halo.