POMONA, Calif. - The dominating debut by Houseofroyalhearts on Saturday at Fairplex Park will catapult the 2-year-old colt directly into a graded stakes. Trainer Cliff Sise said Houseofroyalhearts "couldn't blow out a match" after his 4 1/2-length victory, and the Grade 2 Norfolk Stakes on Oct. 3 at Santa Anita is likely to be the colt's next start. Houseofroyalhearts, a homebred son of Chester House owned by Larry Williams, earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 75. The number does him little justice.

SAN MATEO, Calif. - Owner Michael Gill, who has been denied stalls at several racetracks, is considering sending a string of horses to Bay Meadows.

Peter Tunney, who heads the northern California division of Magna Entertainment, which operates Bay Meadows and Golden Gate Fields, has talked to Gill about possibly granting him stalls for the current meet. The nation's leading owner in victories last year and this year, Gill recently was granted 50 stalls for the Breeders' Cup meet at Lone Star Park.

LEXINGTON, Ky. - Keeneland Racecourse allowed a limited number of horses on Monday to gallop over its new training track, a synthetic racing surface that Keeneland promises will be far safer for horses than the dirt and sand tracks in widespread use across the United States.

CHICAGO - A surprise showdown is looming in Saturday's Grade 3 Pucker Up Stakes at Arlington. Normally a race that attracts only regionally based horses and true to its grade, the Pucker Up, a 3-year-old filly grass race, could attract Spotlight from the East Coast and Ticker Tape from California. Both those horses are more Grade 1 than Grade 3 types.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Breeders' Stakes runner-up Burst of Fire heads a six-horse field in Wednesday's Woodbine headliner, a $100,000 optional claimer that is scheduled for about 1 1/2 miles on the grass.

Burst of Fire, trained by Mark Frostad for Sam-Son Farm, was aimed toward the Queen's Plate after winning his maiden in his first start, going a mile and 40 yards at the Fair Grounds in March. He reappeared in a difficult allowance at Keeneland in April, and finished a distant third behind Minister Eric and Go Now.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Fearless Flyer began her career in relative obscurity in Ireland this spring. But now she's headed for the bright lights of California, a budding starlet for owner Paul Reddam and trainer Ben Cecil after capturing the Grade 3 Natalma Stakes here at Woodbine last Sunday.

POMONA, Calif. - Shezsospiritual ($20.60) trounced four rivals, including odds-on Victory Encounter, in the $57,000 E.B. Johnston Stakes at Fairplex Park.

Being placed too close to the early pace may have prevented Seducer's Song from running her best in last month's Grade 1 Del Mar Oaks. But Joe Bravo, riding Seducer's Song for the first time, recognized how to put the 3-year-old filly in ideal position to make her closing kick effective in the Boiling Springs Handicap at Monmouth Park.

ELMONT, N.Y. - Lucifer's Stone and her jockey, Jose Santos, salvaged a fruitless summer with a 1 1/4-length victory in Sunday's Grade 1, $300,000 at Belmont Park.

Barancella, the longest shot in the seven-horse field, got up for second, three-quarters of a length ahead of fellow European invader Noahs Ark.

At Charles Town, Ginger Ale ($8) held off 7-5 favorite Longspud by a half-length in the Robert Hilton Memorial, and Sheckatoo ($7.60), last of 10 after the first half-mile, rallied to score a 1 1/2-length win in the Willard Harrell Memorial. Both seven-furlong races were worth $41,250 and served as preps for stakes on next month's West Virginia Breeders Classics card.