Prankster CF, runner-up in the vote for 2004 champion distance horse, carries high weight of 125 pounds as he goes for his third win in three starts at 870 yards in the Grade 3, $27,000 The Moonshiner Handicap on Saturday night at Los Alamitos.

NEW ORLEANS - Neil Howard and Dallas Stewart each work out of Barn 4 on the Fair Grounds backstretch, a proximity conducive to friendly rivalry even if they didn't compete regularly for stakes money.

"Mister Neil, he beats us in the afternoon and he beats us at night," Lee Guidry, an exercise rider for Stewart, said with a laugh. Stewart's horses finished second to Howard's last Saturday in stakes races at Fair Grounds and Sam Houston Park.

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - Trainer Steve Asmussen, who swept the opening weekend stakes at Oaklawn Park last Friday and Saturday, can make it three in a row at this track Saturday when he sends out leading contender More Moonlight in the $50,000 Dixie Belle.

The six-furlong race for 3-year-old fillies drew six, including Angel Trumpet, winner of the $50,000 Gowell in her last start Dec. 26; Free Bonus, who has won all four of her career starts, including three stakes restricted to horses bred in Indiana; and stakes winner True Tails.

The last seven races on Aqueduct's Thursday card were canceled after the jockeys refused to ride, citing extremely cold temperatures. But the simple cancellation was tinged with controversy.

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - Rockport Harbor, a leading candidate for the Kentucky Derby, had his first workout since his Nov. 27 victory in the Grade 2 Remsen on Wednesday morning at Oaklawn Park.

He traveled four furlongs in 49.40 seconds under regular exercise rider Bobby Velez, an assistant to the colt's trainer, John Servis.

ARCADIA, Calif. - Different goals will keep the multiple stakes winners Royally Chosen and Yearly Report from facing each other in major stakes this weekend at Santa Anita.

The two females are ideally suited for Saturday's lucrative $500,000 Distaff and Sunday's prestigious $250,000 Santa Monica Handicap, a Grade 1.

As of Wednesday, it appears they are headed in different directions.

ARCADIA, Calif. - Frankelstein should be forgiven for his third-place finish on Jan. 7, trainer Marty Jones said.

Racing on a sloppy track that did not suit the 4-year-old, Frankelstein was beaten three lengths in his first start against winners. On Friday, Frankelstein makes his turf debut in a $52,000 allowance race over a mile on turf at Santa Anita.

Jones, who trains Frankelstein for King Edward Racing, is expecting a banner performance.

HALLANDLAE BEACH, Fla. - Eight of the 10 starters in Saturday's $300,000 Ocala Stud Dash on the card are Florida-breds, although of the eight, only two - B. B. Best and Lucky Frolic - have been stabled in south Florida throughout their careers.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Trainer Jimmy Jerkens could have run Boston Express last weekend in The First Lady Handicap, but he opted to wait for what figured to be a softer spot, Friday's $37,000 allowance feature at Gulfstream Park.

But as is so often the case during the winter at Gulfstream, seemingly softer spots suddenly turn into tougher races. Jerkens found that out when he learned that the competition in Friday's third-level allowance dash will include Grade 3 stakes winner Bohemian Lady.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. - While trainer Richard Dutrow Jr. has a million reasons to focus his attention on Gulfstream Park this weekend, he will also have plenty of interest in the proceedings at Aqueduct.