HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Last year Steve Margolis shipped to south Florida fresh off a Breeders' Cup victory with Cajun Beat and spent much of the winter in the media spotlight. But after sending Cajun Beat back to owner Satish Sanan's farm in Ocala to be freshened following his fourth-place finish in the Dubai Golden Shaheen sprint, Margolis never saw his star again.

Cajun Beat was ultimately transferred to trainer Bobby Frankel's barn, leaving Margolis with a gaping hole to fill in his stable. When Margolis returned for the 2005 meeting, he shipped in with little fanfare.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Having good horses is the easiest way for a trainer to win races, but knowing how to read a condition book can also be a big asset. Mark Hennig will put both those factors to use when he sends out the multiple Grade 1-placed Eddington in a field of high-priced optional claiming and allowance rivals in Sunday's $37,000 feature at Gulfstream Park.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Friday's racing program at Gulfstream Park was canceled after the sixth race because of heavy rain and the threat of an impending lightning storm.

Gulfstream's president, Scott Savin, cited "the safety of our patrons, horses, and riders," and said that "canceling the balance of the racing program also gives us the ability to make sure we can make the track safe and ready for tomorrow."

The cancellation was not the first this meet. The first and last races on opening day were also canceled.

NEW ORLEANS - Tamweel, who was purchased privately for $1 million and turned over to trainer Tom Amoss late last year, will make her next start in the Grade 1, $250,000 Santa Monica Stakes on Jan. 30 at Santa Anita.

"We're trying to get a graded stakes win out of her," Amoss said. "The hope is that race gets a little diminished by the Sunshine Millions" on Jan. 29.

NEW ORLEANS - After beating a field of open optional claimers on the turf at 5 1/2 furlongs Jan. 6, Lac Laronge wheels right back Sunday against Louisiana-breds at six furlongs on the Fair Grounds main track in a $36,500 allowance race.

"He's very versatile," trainer Troy Young said. He can run on turf or dirt."

Anyone who has been in racing for an extended period of time knows that momentum can mean nearly everything.

As the new year approached, jockey Juan Molina Jr. was just beginning to get momentum on his side when he was hit by a double whammy that has left him without a riding victory this year. With 13 wins, Molina was the leading apprentice rider at the holiday meet that ended Dec. 31 at Turfway Park in Florence, Ky., when he was sidelined by injury and suspension.

Fastest qualifier Stamps One shoots for his first stakes win at 870 yards and his third straight victory in the $76,028 West Texas Marathon at Sunland Park on Sunday afternoon.

It may have taken a lot longer than originally planned to get Laurel Park's newly rebuilt dirt track ready for racing. But it appears the wait was worthwhile.

The reopening means not only the return of live racing to Laurel for the first time since March, but also a diminished role for Magna Entertainment Corp.'s other Maryland track, Pimlico. With Laurel scheduled to reopen next Saturday, Pimlico, the site of the Preakness Stakes, will now hold live racing only for eight weeks, from mid-April until early June. It will no longer have a fall meet.

Twenty races worth $100,000 or more, including 14 graded events, head the 2005 stakes schedule released Friday by Monmouth Park.

The graded stakes, highlighted by the Grade 1, $1 million Haskell Invitational on Aug. 7, are worth $3.8 million of the $4.45 million in purses allocated to the track's major races. Additional overnight stakes will be announced later, bringing total stakes purses to more than $8 million.

PORTLAND, Ore. - Dr. Jack Root already had nine stallions lined up to stand the upcoming breeding season at his Oakhurst Thoroughbreds in Newberg, Ore., and that seemed like a lot for a farm in a state that only has about 600 Thoroughbred mares.

But now he has another. Root said he acquired Seattle Shamus, a 6-year-old son of Seattle Slew and the Forty Niner matron Footing, for stud duty in 2005.