NEW ORLEANS - Storm Surge has run the table so far at this Fair Grounds winter meet, winning the first two legs of the four-race Louisiana Derby series, the Sugar Bowl Stakes and the Lecomte Handicap. Yet, for all he has accomplished, Storm Surge has his share of critics, and will face a full field of challengers in Saturday's Grade 3, $150,000 .

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Under normal circumstances, any racetrack operator whose attendance was down nearly 50 percent and ontrack handle off 35 percent from the previous season would be looking to hurl himself off the grandstand roof.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Mustanfar has won two graded stakes and made his last start in the Breeders' Cup, whereas He's Crafty has finished off the board in his only two previous stakes appearances. From that data, it would seem an easy task to separate the two leading contenders in Thursday's $39,000 optional claiming feature at Gulfstream Park.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - A trend established in the first six years of the Kentucky Derby Future Wager seems likely to hold true Thursday when the mutuel field will open as the morning-line favorite in the first of three pools in a four-day wager available in 35 states.

ARCADIA, Calif. - It only took one mile for the Kirkendahl bandwagon to empty. After winning his first two starts in sprints, the 3-year-old colt was favored when he stretched out Jan. 15 in the Grade 2 San Rafael Stakes. He was empty at the quarter pole and finished last of five. So what happened?

"It's a head-scratcher," trainer Ted H. West said. "I thought he was going to run huge that day. He was down inside, in a bad spot, and maybe it was intimidating for an inexperienced horse. The question was the route, and maybe it was too soon for him."

ARCADIA, Calif. - Revealed burst onto the racing scene Nov. 21 with a smashing debut victory that marked her as a potential star. Then just as quickly, the bubble burst.

made her second start Jan. 16 and got trounced more than 28 lengths by Sweet Catomine. Now it is almost a month later, and the handicapping dilemma Thursday at Santa Anita is choosing which Revealed will show up in the race-7 feature.

A purse increase for one of its five graded stakes and the inaugural running of two added-money races for Delaware-certified horses are the most notable changes on Delaware Park's 2005 stakes schedule.

Overall, Delaware will offer 30 stakes worth a collective $4.35 million during a 135-day meet that runs from April 30 through Nov. 13.

Warleigh turned in a big performance Tuesday at Fair Grounds to win the 62nd running of the at 7 1/2 furlongs on the grass.

SAN MATEO, Calif. - Razen Hazen and Smoocher, who ran one-two on Jan. 20 at Golden Gate Fields, renew their rivalry in Thursday's Bay Meadows feature. The race is a $50,000 optional claimer at six furlongs.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Several of the older fillies and mares in Thursday's feature at Aqueduct were scheduled to meet last month, only to have the race wiped out due to a snowstorm. They are back again, along with some others who have been away from the races since last summer and early fall, so anything goes in this $47,000 third-level allowance with an optional claiming price of $75,000.

The six-furlong sprint drew a field of eight, and the three mares eligible to be claimed - She Is Raging, Electrical Carlita, and Candybedandy - have all won in this condition before.