NEW ORLEANS - Summerly added to her reputation last Saturday with a cruise-control victory in the Fair Grounds Oaks.

The track had been souped up to favor speed over the course of the week and played to Summerly's strengths as she loped along on the lead through a 49.04-second half-mile in the 1 1/16-mile race.

Trainer Steve Asmussen now has to weigh the fact that the race didn't take anything out of her. When asked earlier this week if Summerly got enough out of the race, Asmussen smiled.

STICKNEY, Ill. - The Friday program here at Hawthorne has as its nominal feature a $40,000 overnight stakes for 3-year-old fillies, but the compelling race is the one with the old men in it.

Friday's first race, a so-called money allowance with a $100,000 claiming option, pits 6-year-old Stormy Impact against 8-year-old Ask the Lord - neither of whom were close to coming into being when Magic Doe, who is also in this race, hit the ground in April of 1995.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - The $125,000 Alberta Derby, with a $25,000 purse increase, will be the highlight of a 14-race stakes schedule worth a record total of $775,000 at this year's Stampede Park meeting.

Horse Racing Alberta, which manages and regulates the industry in the province, approved the schedule late last week. The 47-day meeting begins April 1 and runs through June 19.

When Turf Paradise puts up a big purse, it often ends up being hauled away to California after some shipper comes in and spoils the fun. It is entirely possible that the $100,000 Phoenix Gold Cup will turn out the same way Saturday, when Californians Grand Appointment, Roi Charmant, and Indian Charlie - all highweighted at 119 pounds - come in for the meet's marquee event at six furlongs along with Hear No Evil, American Fury, and Proud Cardenal.

Mr. Bubbly must be happiest when he's in Ronny Brown's barn.

A 5-year-old gelding, Mr. Bubbly ($16) had been claimed in each of his previous two starts, when he was beaten nearly 48 lengths with Beyer Speed Figures of 36 and 25. He returned to Brown's care, remained at the same level, and crushed $3,000 claimers by 11 1/4 lengths going 1 1/8 miles Sunday at Charles Town. Mr. Bubbly's Beyer skyrocketed to an 88.

In his last start for Brown, Mr. Bubbly trounced $5,000 claiming rivals by 13 1/2 lengths in November.

Spring weather hasn't yet reached Mountaineer Race Track, but Dale Baird's horses are certainly warming up.

Baird, the track's perennial leading trainer, has gone 12 for 45 with a $2.24 return on investment since March 1 to overtake Jeff Radosevich for the lead in the trainer standings. Heading into this weekend, Baird has saddled 21 winners, eight more than Radosevich.

Monday night, Baird saddled the winners in three of the first four races: Sainted Colony ($8.60, race 1), Campo de Maniobras ($3.20, 2nd), and El's Demaloot ($4.80, 4th).

At age 13, Band Performance hasn't forgotten how to win.

Facing $2,500 sprinters for trainer Bruce Kravets, Band Performance ($8.60) registered his 28th career victory in the third race at Penn National on March 10. He combined with Danlins World for a $66.40 exacta.

In 128 starts, Band Performance has now hit the board 76 times and earned $354,052.

Jayne Vaders is winning with practically every horse she sends out lately at Philadelphia Park. Surprisingly, her runners continue to produce a profit.

Vaders is 28 for 75 - a phenomenal 37 percent - at the meet that began Jan. 1, with a $2.64 return on investment. Since Feb. 14, Vaders has gone 11 for 27 with a $2.97 ROI.

Vaders leads Scott Lake in the race for leading trainer, 28-25, heading into Friday's racing, even though Lake has started 50 more horses.

Straw Fly Dreams heads the 3-year-old fillies in Friday's $30,000 La Pacifica Stakes, and Grade 1 winner Dash on a Mission meets a deep field of 3-year-olds in Saturday's $30,000 Dillingham Handicap at Los Alamitos.

Straw Fly Dreams showed promise in her most recent start, when she was a 1 1/4-length winner of the Belmont Shore Handicap on Feb. 19. She raced the La Pacifica distance of 350 yards in a fast 17.41 seconds for her first stakes win.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Last fall, after Galloping Grocer established himself as a 2005 Kentucky Derby contender, owner Robert Rosenthal was besieged by unsolicited advice to take the horse from trainer Dominick Schettino and give him to a more established horseman.

"Don't think about 30 people haven't called me to tell me to do that," Rosenthal said in a recent interview.