NEW ORLEANS - Gold Storm and Bwana Charlie were both longshots in the Breeders' Cup Sprint when they last met, but they each had an effect on the race's outcome.

Gold Storm was involved in a 43.47-second half-mile, which trainer Bubba Cascio said was the reason Gold Storm faded from second to ninth. Bwana Charlie made a lot of superfecta fans happy by closing for fourth at 35-1.

The two will meet again Saturday in the $125,000 Duncan F. Kenner Breeders' Cup Handicap at six furlongs, the premier sprint stakes on the Fair Grounds racing schedule.

OLDSMAR, Fla. - Delta Princess, whose late rally carried her to victory in the Endeavour Stakes over the Tampa turf last time out, takes on the Suwannee River Stakes winner, Snowdrops, when a field of 12 female turf runners meets in the Grade 3, $100,000 Hillsborough Stakes on Saturday at Tampa Bay Downs. The Hillsborough and the Holiday Inn Express Stakes at five furlongs on the turf are part of a strong undercard on Festival Day, which is highlighted by the Tampa Bay Derby and Florida Oaks.

At certain times during the long winter at Turfway Park, it seems the same horses keep showing up in the same race categories. That has held partly true again this year at the Florence, Ky., track, although, happily enough, that monotonous refrain will come to an abrupt end once the Lane's End Stakes rolls around.

PORTLAND, Ore. - Saturday's Governor's Speed Handicap has a lot to offer for a race with a purse of only $7,500, including a dollop of intrigue.

Included in the lineup of mostly familiar names is a newcomer who might fairly be called a mystery horse. Quantis, a 6-year-old son of Devil His Due, arrived here from Oaklawn Park a couple of weeks ago, and even his trainer, Roger Stevenson, doesn't know much about him.

As a 3-year-old in 2003, Penobscot Bay displayed enough talent to run in five stakes, highlighted by a second-place finish in the $100,000 Federico Tesio and a third in the Sir Barton on the Preakness undercard.

For much of his racing career since then, the now 5-year-old Penobscot Bay was trying to get past his second allowance condition, a hurdle he finally cleared in January.

It's a battle pitting Arizona against California in the $100,000 Phoenix Gold Cup at Turf Paradise on Saturday. A six-furlong race, the Phoenix Gold Cup is the marquee event of the meet and matches the best sprinters in the Arizona circuit against a band of talented raiders from California. In all, the race will have 12 runners.

Favoritism may fall to one of the three 119-pound highweights, all of whom are from Southern California.

Munificence's stock rose in his last start, even though he experienced the first defeat of his four-race career. He was second by three-quarters of a length in the $100,000 Southwest Stakes at Oaklawn, an effort that could look even better by the time Munificence goes to post Saturday night in the $50,000 Sportsman's Paradise at Delta Downs.

Munificence was runner-up in the Southwest to Greater Good, a Grade 2 winner who rates among the leading contenders in Saturday's Grade 3 Rebel Stakes at Oaklawn.

Nuttyboom, who four starts ago ran a career race at Sam Houston Race Park, will return to Houston for the $40,000 Spring Stakes. The seven-furlong race is restricted to horses bred in Texas and drew a well-matched field of 12.

Others in the race include stakes performers Charming Socialite, Record Assembly, and defending champ Catalissa.

With only nine starts in his career, the 6-year-old gelding Never Give In is lightly raced. He also is rarely beaten.

Never Give In ran in six races during 2004 and won four of them. At Hawthorne, he has never lost, winning all three of his starts, and that is one good reason to accord Never Give In a decent chance to win the featured sixth race.

S C King goes after his second stakes win of the year when he heads a field of seven in the $15,000-added Baxter Stakes for 3-year-olds at Fonner Park.

Trained by Lalita Ontiveros, S C King started his campaign with a sharp two-length victory in the Bachman Stakes on Feb. 28 going four furlongs. He was a 6 3/4-length winner of the Club House Special going six furlongs last fall, and looks like he can handle the stretch out to Saturday's distance of 6 1/2 furlongs. Armando Martinez will ride from post 1.