Class Above entered the 2004 Bourbonette Stakes at Turfway Park seeking to reverse form that had deteriorated while racing against the nation's best fillies in graded stakes. The plan worked. Racing in ungraded company, Class Above rolled to a 3 3/4-length victory.

FLORENCE, Ky. - All across the United States, sports fans are eager to see who can survive one more round and advance to the next stage.

And that's not just the NCAA basketball tournament.

A horse race that essentially shapes up as a critical elimination for the 131st Kentucky Derby will be run Saturday at Turfway Park, where nine 3-year-olds will clash in the 34th running of the $500,000 . Whether the Grade 2 Lane's End will produce one or more viable contenders for the Derby is unclear, but this much is not: The race should be a terrific one for the betting public.

FLORENCE, Ky. - There is little doubt that Proud Accolade would have been the favorite if Todd Pletcher had run him in the Lane's End Stakes on Saturday.

But it is a moot point. Pletcher has opted for a conservative approach with Proud Accolade, the Padua Stables colt who won the Grade 1 Champagne Stakes last fall. Instead of the $500,000 Lane's End, Proud Accolade will start in the $100,000 Rushaway Stakes, a 1 1/16-mile race in which he will break from post 4 when facing 11 other 3-year-olds.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - A year ago, the imposing presence of Sightseek scared away the opposition and resulted in only a four-horse field for Gulfstream Park's $250,000 Rampart Handicap. This year the culprit is Isola Piu Bella, who figures to be the odds-on favorite against only four other fillies and mares in Saturday's Grade 2, 1 1/8-mile Rampart.

The Rampart is one of two graded stakes races on Saturday's card. The other, the Grade 3, $100,000 Palm Beach Stakes on the turf, drew a field of nine 3-year-olds, including an entry.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Papi Chullo is still a maiden but he worked like a stakes horse when going five furlongs in 59.40 seconds here on Thursday in his penultimate work for the $1 million Florida Derby on April 2.

Papi Chullo, winless in four starts, finished second behind Going Wild in Santa Anita's Sham Stakes and fourth, beaten 4 1/2 lengths by High Fly, in the Grade 2 Fountain of Youth Stakes here on March 5. And owner Greg Norman is not averse to taking Papi Chullo to the Kentucky Derby even as a maiden if he runs another big race in the Grade 1 Florida Derby.

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - Deputy Storm, who is a top candidate for next month's Grade 3, $150,000 Count Fleet Sprint Handicap at Oaklawn Park, is forcing his trainer, Ralph Nicks, to run him Saturday in the $50,000 Hot Springs Stakes.

"I had planned on skipping this one, but he's just doing so well," said Nicks.

won the first stakes in the Oaklawn sprint series on Feb. 5, leading throughout for a head win in the $50,000 King Cotton.

FLORENCE, Ky. - Jennifer Pedersen got such a kick out of ambushing the Lane's End Stakes two years ago with New York Hero that she is returning Saturday with every intention of inflicting more damage.

"I'm bringing an army," joked Pedersen.

Indeed, besides Mr Sword for the Lane's End, Pedersen will saddle four other horses on the 12-race Saturday card at Turfway Park: Amazing Buy in the Bourbonette Breeders' Cup Stakes, Daddy Joe in the Rushaway Stakes, Bush's Song in an allowance race, and Funny Jello in a maiden special weight race.

Victories in the Winsham Lad and Curribot handicaps have moved Skip and Go to the top of the heap at Sunland Park. But when you are the fastest gun in town, someone is always looking to knock you off.

That is the case in Saturday's $105,900 Sunland Park Handicap. The 1 1/8-mile event gives Skip and Go the chance to prove he is the best at Sunland Park, but he will receive a stiff challenge from Southern California shipper Night Patrol, who shipped here and won this race in 2003.

Aside from pushing the "all" button, there's no easy way for a bettor to safely get through the first leg of Saturday's Magna 5. The Private Terms, a one-mile race at Laurel Park that launches the pick five wager, poses a difficult puzzle.

Of the 11 3-year-olds in the $50,000 Private Terms, six won their most recent start. To compound matters, four horses are switching from a sprint to a route. Three will be racing at Laurel for the first time.

PHOENIX - Saturday's $40,000 Tempe Handicap, a one-mile turf race at Turf Paradise, presents some new obstacles for the 11 3-year-olds entered. For most of them, it's their first time on turf. For some of them, it's their first time going long. For some it's both.

And even for the five who have at least tried turf, they are still trying to prove themselves at the stakes level.