ELMONT, N.Y. - A minor lung infection has put plans for the promising 2-year-old New York-bred on hold, but his next start will likely come in a stakes.

Dominic Schettino, who trains Galloping Grocer for Bob Rosenthal and Bernice Waldbaum, said the lung infection was detected when the horse underwent a routine endoscopic examination after his last race, a 12 1/2-length victory in a statebred allowance race last Friday at Belmont.

"On a scale of 1 to 10, he was a 3 1/2," Schettino said. "It wasn't insignificant."

ELMONT, N.Y. - After tussling with Grade 1 winners in the Saratoga Breeders' Cup last month, Alumni Hall finds himself faced with an easier assignment on Thursday at Belmont Park.

Alumni Hall and Colita look like the horses to beat in an optional claimer that drew a solid field of eight older males. None of the horses are entered for the $100,000 claiming price.

Rochester, the two-time defending champion, is expected back again Saturday to compete in the $200,000 Kentucky Cup Turf, the richest of four Kentucky Cup grass races at Kentucky Downs in Franklin, Ky.

Pat Day is scheduled to be aboard Rochester in the Grade 3 Turf, a 1 1/2-mile race that highlights what is easily the biggest day of live racing each year at turf-only Kentucky Downs. Rochester won the 2002 Turf by 2 1/2 lengths, then was awarded victory last year after the disqualification of Art Variety. Eddie Martin Jr. rode Rochester both times.

POMONA, Calif. - A motley cast of 2-year-olds entered the $60,000 Gateway to Glory Stakes on Thursday at Fairplex Park. Bettors able to find the winner of the 1 1/16-mile race will be suitably rewarded, because the race lacks a legitimate favorite.

MIAMI - Trainer Manny Azpurua's 2004 campaign got off to a rocky start to say the least. After guiding Sir Oscar through a perfect 2-year-old season, which included a sweep of the Florida Stallion Stakes, Azpurua had the young prospect removed from his barn by the horse's owner the morning after the colt suffered his first career defeat in the Grade 2 Fountain of Youth Stakes on Feb. 14.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Sky Diamond will look to extend his win streak to three races in Thursday's Woodbine headliner, an $80,000 optional claimer for 3-year-olds and up.

Sky Diamond was an inconsistent sprinter when owner Roger Patten and trainer Sid Attard claimed him from Sam-Son Farm and trainer Mark Frostad for $35,000 on July 11. He ended up sixth that day, finishing some 10 lengths behind the winner, X Box.

POMONA, Calif. - Los Angeles County Fair racing officials are expected to modernize the wagering menu for the 2005 meet, after a slew of winning favorites undermined the pick nine carryover and, for the second straight year, eliminated the potential for a jackpot into the closing-day card Sunday at Fairplex Park.

Favorites won six of eight Thoroughbred races Monday, bringing the meet Thoroughbred total to 41 winning favorites from 100 races. The opening leg of Monday's pick nine, an Appaloosa race, was also won by the favorite.

The $200,000 Connally Breeders' Cup Turf, which was moved from February to April for this year's running, will remain later on the calendar for the upcoming winter-spring meet at Sam Houston Race Park in Houston.

The 1 1/8-mile Connally is the richest of 32 stakes to be decided during the 71-night meet that opens on Nov. 17. The race will be run on April 9, 2005, one night before the meet closes. Sam Houston will offer $1.9 million in stakes purses, and has budgeted daily purses at $110,000 a day.

SAN MATEO, Calif. - A full field of 12 will be running 1 1/16 miles on the turf in the Bay Meadows feature, a $32,000 starter allowance for fillies and mares who have never won two races.

A wide-open race, it demands an opinion, and for those who are right, the payoff should be healthy.

If speed figures are your bag, Vale of Wings has the highest career Beyer Speed Figure (88) and also the highest last-race Beyer Figure (78), but she also has the highest number of career starts, 28, with only one win.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Trainer Dave Cotey has never been shy about shipping horses to western Canada, and he will continue that tradition when he sends out Strike Em Hard in Sunday's $250,000 British Columbia Derby at Hastings.

Strike Em Hard is slated to leave Woodbine early Friday morning and will meet his groom, Paul Eccleston, at Hastings.

Cotey and Constant Montpellier, Strike Em Hard's regular rider, will be flying out to Vancouver on Saturday evening.