A significant purse increase for the West Virginia Derby is the most noteworthy change on the 2005 stakes schedule at Mountaineer Race Track. The 28-race stakes schedule is worth a total of $2,945,000.

The Grade 3 derby, scheduled for Sunday, Aug. 14, will now be worth $750,000, a boost of $150,000 from its value each of the past three years. The last time the purse for the derby was raised was 2002, when it went from $500,000 to $600,000.

Two other stakes got a $25,000 bump. The Mountaineer Mile and the West Virginia Governor's Stakes are now valued at $125,000 apiece.

House of Fortune won three stakes in 2004, but her campaign ended on a sour note with a last-place finish in the Grade 1 Spinster Stakes at Keeneland in October.

She was later found to be suffering from a severe throat ulcer, trainer Ron McAnally said.

Since then, McAnally has monitored House of Fortune's health closely, and pronounced her to be in outstanding shape for a return in Saturday's $500,000 Distaff at Santa Anita.

McAnally's confidence grew last Sunday when House of Fortune's throat was examined after a seven-furlong workout.

Want stakes horses? Find them in claiming races. And who knows? They could end up in the same place many of the grizzled veterans will be on Saturday - at Santa Anita, racing for a $300,000 purse in the Sprint.

A field of 13 will run in the six-furlong Sprint, which goes as race 4, and most leading contenders share at least one trait. Though their current form may suggest otherwise, the lineup is downright rags-to-riches. Stakes winners Areyoutalkintome, Green Team, Full Moon Madness, Shake You Down, and My Cousin Matt are refugees from a lower class.

Mooji Moo is the reigning champion in the $300,000 Filly and Mare Sprint after upsetting last year's race as a 17-1 longshot at Santa Anita. Mooji Moo will not be quite that big a price when she returns to defend her title in the six-furlong sprint at Gulfstream Park, but even her trainer, Tim Hills, admits she will be a decided underdog again in Saturday's rematch with Bear Fan.

Moscow Burning first made her name in restricted races, but she has come a long ways since then. She was one of the best female turf performers in the country last year, with a victory in Belmont's Sheepshead Bay Handicap and narrow losses against males in the Del Mar Handicap and Hollywood Turf Cup.

Coastal Strike left Del Mar last summer as a stakes winner with a growing reputation in the California-bred filly division.

While sore shins have kept her from racing since September, she has trained impressively in recent weeks for a comeback in Saturday's $250,000 Oaks at Santa Anita.

Continental Red makes his final start for trainer Ian Jory in Saturday's $500,000 at Santa Anita.

In March, Jory is relocating to Saudi Arabia to begin training privately for Sultan al Kabeer. Continental Red's new trainer will be Adam Kitchingman.

A victory as a going-away present is not out of the realm of possibility, Jory said from Santa Anita.

"I know it's a tougher race than they've had in the last few years, but he couldn't be doing any better," Jory said.

If numbers don't lie, then Lost in the Fog is, truthfully, the most probable winner on the card Saturday at Gulfstream Park. A Florida-bred son of Lost Soldier who is based in northern California, Lost in the Fog has rocketed to victories at Golden Gate Fields and Turf Paradise while earning dazzling Beyer Speed Figures of 103 and 109. None of his nine 3-year-old rivals in the six-furlong $250,000 Sunshine Millions Dash can get within hailing distance of those figs.

LEXINGTON, Ky. - A fast horse is a joy to behold. Perhaps because truly fast horses enjoy their racing so much, they seem to communicate some of that enthusiasm for the game to spectators. And among the fast and the fleet racing in the , Lost in the Fog appears to be the quickest 3-year-old colt on the card.

PORTLAND, Ore. - Typhoon Aaron will attempt to stretch his undefeated string to four when he takes on 10 challengers at Portland Meadows in Saturday's $7,500 Flying Lark Stakes at six furlongs.

Typhoon Aaron, a 3-year-old son of Danjur who races for Standish Stables, won his debut by more than five lengths against $10,000 maidens on Oct. 23. He came back to upset his highly regarded stablemate Tomorrow's Turn in the six-furlong Columbia River Handicap in November, then proved that effort was not a fluke when he beat Tomorrow's Turn in last month's Juvenile Mile.