SAN MATEO, Calif. - In explaining why he hadn't nominated Stellar Magic to the Triple Crown series, trainer Brian Pitnick said, "I didn't want to put any pressure on the horse."

But after Stellar Magic's visually impressive victory in the at Bay Meadows on Saturday, Pitnick said, "Now he's putting pressure on me."

This is the kind of pressure Pitnick can get used to. His phone is ringing off the hook. Half the calls are congratulatory; the other half want to know what it would take to purchase the 3-year-old gelding.

ARCADIA, Calif. - Much to the surprise of jockey Jose Valdivia, Jr., Miss Loren dragged herself into contention on the final turn of Sunday's $250,000 at Santa Anita.

"I was getting a dream run without asking my filly," Valdivia said. "On the turn, she took me up there. She kept tugging at me."

Miss Loren's aggressive behavior was the difference. Valdivia converted her move on the turn into a nose victory over 15-1 longshot Good Student after a stretch-long duel. Hollywood Story, the 3-1 favorite, finished a troubled third.

ARCADIA, Calif. - Fusaichi Rock Star, trainer Bob Baffert's second string hope, salvaged a disappointing weekend for the stable with an upset win in Sunday's $147,000 at Santa Anita.

Baffert had hoped to start Roman Ruler in the Grade 2 San Vicente, but the two-time stakes winner was withdrawn because of a quarter crack.

Fusaichi Rock Star ($17), the longest shot in a field of four, led throughout and won by a length over Don't Get Mad, who rallied well in the final furlong.

"We needed that," Baffert said of the result.

ARCADIA, Calif. - From the time Corey Nakatani first got on Sharp Lisa, he had wanted to get back on her. But because he had been regularly riding the best filly of this generation, Eclipse Award winner Sweet Catomine, those opportunities had rarely presented themselves.

On Saturday at Santa Anita, however, Nakatani and Sharp Lisa were reunited, and it felt so good. With Nakatani displaying poise under pressure and Sharp Lisa responding to a serious challenge, they re-rallied in the final sixteenth of a mile to capture the Grade 1, $250,000 .

SAN MATEO, Calif. - Stellar Magic ($18) got a perfect trip and ran down odds-on favorite Texcess late to win the $100,000 at Bay Meadows on Saturday.

While Texcess sat just off California Choice through brisk opening fractions of 22.78 and 45.44, Stellar Magic was content to sit in fifth while on the inside. He began to move up, angling three wide on the second turn and had moved into second behind Texcess entering the stretch.

NEW ORLEANS - Scipion flashed the kind of credentials on Saturday that could earn him a ticket to Kentucky, unleashing an explosive stretch run to win going away in the Grade 3, $150,000 at Fair Grounds.

Appearing hopelessly beaten at the back of the pack turning for home, Scipion closed like a rocket under Gary Stevens through the long Fair Grounds stretch to collar the leaders close to the wire and win by 1 1/4 lengths. He paid $22.20.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Horses skipping an allowance condition are almost never considered a good bet. The exception to that rule may be Forest Danger when he takes on seven rivals, including the up-and-coming Primary Suspect, in Monday's $39,000 allowance feature at Gulfstream Park.

, who has not started since suffering his only defeat in the Grade 3 Withers last May 1, is still eligible for his third-level allowance condition. But when that race didn't fill, trainer Todd Pletcher opted to enter the speedy Forest Danger in Monday's four-other-than allowance.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Madcap Escapade's final workout in preparation for her much-anticipated return in next Saturday's Grade 3 Shirley Jones Handicap didn't quite go as trainer Frank Brothers planned. It went well enough, though, for Brothers to pronounce his star filly ready to go in the seven-furlong Shirley Jones.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Mr. Light didn't come close to equaling the one-mile world record he set earlier in the meet. But he still covered the distance fast enough to register a half-length victory over Host in Saturday's $100,000 at Gulfstream Park.

Mr. Light established a world mark of 1:31.41 winning a third-level allowance race on turf opening day. His final time in the Grade 3 Appleton was 1:32.98. Despite coming off a record-setting performance five weeks earlier, Mr. Light was sent off the fifth choice in a field of eight and returned $14.80.

ARCADIA, Calif. - Before the field reached the backstretch of Saturday's $200,000 at Santa Anita, trainer John Shirreffs began to think that his filly Tarlow would be impossible to catch on the lead.

Allowed to set her own pace, Tarlow had a one-length advantage through the first half-mile. She never gave up the lead, winning by two lengths under jockey Patrick Valenzuela. In the days before the race, Shirreffs was hoping that Tarlow could use her front-running style to score an upset.