LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Lineups for the Kentucky Cup races are starting to come together, with nationally recognized names being mentioned for some of the five races that will be run Saturday at Turfway Park in Florence, Ky.

Roses in May will be favored in the signature race of the series, the $350,000 Classic, but he will probably have several legitimate challengers. Perfect Drift, the defending champion in the Grade 2 race, may start, while Alumni Hall, Pie N Burger, Seattle Fitz, and Eye of the Tiger also are under consideration.

ELMONT, N.Y. - When Medaglia d'Oro was retired in June, trainer Bobby Frankel hoped Peace Rules would be the one to take his place in the handicap division. As it turned out, Frankel had another replacement waiting in the wings.

ELMONT, N.Y. - Several horses who raced in two of the summer's biggest turf races for males, the Sword Dancer and Arlington Million, will converge on Belmont Park for Saturday's $500,000 Man o' War.

, the first three under the wire in the Grade 1 Sword Dancer at Saratoga on Aug. 14, are among eight turf males entered in the Grade 1 Man o' War. Also entered in the Man o' War are Epalo and Magistretti, who both benefited from the disqualification of Powerscourt in the Arlington Million on Aug. 14.

ELMONT, N.Y. - A solid summer that included a Grade 1 victory in the Mother Goose Stakes and runner-up performances in the Coaching Club American Oaks and Alabama have put in contention for top honors in the 3-year-old filly division with Ashado and Society Selection.

Neither of those fillies was entered for Saturday's Grade 1, $250,000 Gazelle, in which Stellar Jayne will face eight rivals, including graded stakes winners . The Gazelle is one of three Grade 1 races on Belmont's 10-race card, which includes the Man o' War and Woodward Stakes.

ELMONT, N.Y. - Musical Chimes, a Grade 1 winner on turf, will try the dirt for the first time when she runs in the Grade 1, $300,000 Ruffian Handicap at Belmont Park Sept. 19, trainer Neil Drysdale said.

"She's by In Excess and her second dam is It's in the Air, so there's a lot of dirt in the family," Drysdale said Thursday from Hollywood Park. "We've been thinking about it ever since she arrived."

DEL MAR, Calif. - The fastest young guns in the West are the fastest guns in the country. Declan's Moon and Roman Ruler ran one-two in a thrilling Del Mar Futurity on closing day Wednesday. The race earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 107, the top number of the year among 2-year-olds.

Both emerged from the race in good shape, their trainers said Thursday morning, but their immediate plans are yet to be determined. Ron Ellis, the trainer of Declan's Moon, said plans hinged on the desires of owners Mace and Samantha Siegel.

DEL MAR, Calif. - The Del Mar meeting ended Wednesday with a record for total handle and an increase in ontrack attendance.

Total handle was $579,727,110, with a daily average of $13,482,026, an increase of 1.5 percent from a similar 43-day meet last year. The ontrack average handle was $2,377,744, a decline of less than 1 percent.

The average ontrack attendance was 17,052, an increase of 1 percent over last year's average of 16,881 and the highest since intertrack wagering begain in Southern California in 1987.

OCEANPORT, N.J. - The remnants of Hurricane Frances lingered over the Jersey Shore, casting a cloud over the weekend stakes at Monmouth Park.

Two of the four stakes are slated for the turf: the Grade 3, $150,000 Boiling Springs Handicap for 3-year-old fillies on Sunday and the $60,000 Majestic Prince for 3-year-olds Saturday.

The surface status depended on how much more water Frances dumps on the course before departing. Monmouth moved all grass races carded for Thursday and Friday to the main track.

Gilded Wings tries to confirm that she is more than just a sprinter Saturday, when she starts in the $60,000 River Cities at Louisiana Downs.

A 1 1/16-mile turf race, the River Cities drew seven fillies and mares, including Due to Win Again and Mexican Moonlight, who have each won stakes at the meet.

is a leading contender based on her 5 3/4-length romp last out in a two-turn turf allowance at Louisiana Downs. She covered 7 1/2 furlongs in 1:29.60 and earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 93, the highest last-race number among the starters in the River Cities.

ARCADIA, Calif. - The Los Angeles County Fair race meet comes at just the right time for the horse Verkade and the jockey David Nuesch.

Verkade will try to bounce back after just one bad race when he and jockey Martin Pedroza race 1 1/16 miles Saturday in the $60,000 Phil D. Shepherd Stakes at Fairplex Park. Nuesch, meanwhile, will try to dig out from a deeper hole. He entered the meet having lost 62 straight races over the past three months, a streak that could end Saturday on Anziyan Royalty.