ELMONT, N.Y. - It should come as no surprise that management at the New York Racing Association is rooting for Smarty Jones to get the job done in Saturday's Preakness Stakes, so he will come to the 136th Belmont Stakes on June 5 with a Triple Crown on the line.

CHICAGO - You go into the trainer Tony Mitchell's barn at Arlington Park. There is his office, and as close to the office as she could get, there is Summer Mis.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Ticker Tape has become a favorite at trainer Jim Cassidy's stable since her arrival from England last fall, and not just because of her consecutive stakes wins at Santa Anita this year.

"She's been different than some of the others," Cassidy said. "I'm more or less a caretaker. Some of the others I had to train. With her, I'm just trying not to get in the way."

INGLEWOOD, Calif. - The unconventional method of starting maidens in stakes for 2-year-old fillies has worked in the past for trainer David Hofmans.

Cindy's Hero was a maiden when she won the 2000 Del Mar Debutante and Tricks Her was a maiden when she was placed in the Landaluce and Sorrento Stakes in 2002.

SAN MATEO, Calif. - One reason Jerry Hollendorfer is northern California's leading trainer is because he gets good horses to work with.

He will saddle two in Saturday's $55,000-added San Jose Stakes at Bay Meadows. Heavenly Humor and Secret Corsage, who will run as entry, are the likely favorites in the 1 1/16-mile race for 3-year-old fillies.

Both were bred by the late John Franks, a man Hollendorfer developed great respect for.

Tampa Bay Downs opened for simulcasting as scheduled on Thursday after a small fire was contained on the second floor of the grandstand the previous evening.

The fire began around 11:30 p.m. Wednesday and destroyed two accounting offices, according to the track's director of publicity, Margo Flynn. There were no injuries, and the cause of the fire is under investigation.

Live racing at Tampa ended on May 2. Flynn said only a few horses still remain in the stable area, which was not affected by the blaze.

To celebrate the popularity of Smarty Jones in Pennsylvania, Penn National Race Course will give out $2 win tickets on the Kentucky Derby winner to everyone who pays the $2 admission Saturday.

"Everybody gets a chance to win some money if Smarty Jones wins," said Fred Lipkin, Penn National's director of marketing and publicity, "and we don't care if people cash the ticket, put it in a scrapbook, or sell it on eBay."

Gates for paid admission will open at 3 p.m.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Two weeks ago, bettors wondered how the Kentucky Derby runners would handle a sloppy track and 1 1/4 miles. Saturday at Churchill Downs, in the $100,000 Open Mind Stakes, speculation again revolves around how the entrants will handle the surface and distance.

Carded at five furlongs on turf for 3-year-old fillies, the Open Mind is a challenging handicapping race, because so few of the runners have experience under the race's conditions. Eight of the 10 entrants have never raced on grass, and only Speedy Sonata has won on turf.

Coastalota will try to win her third consecutive $50,000 JEH Stallion Station Stakes at Lone Star Park on Saturday. If anything, she seems in a better position to capture the 6 1/2-furlong race for Texas-bred fillies and mares this year than she was last year, when she was up for a neck win over Halo Tyra.

BOSSIER CITY, La. - See How She Runs, a stakes winner of $585,490, will start a new chapter in her career Saturday when she makes her turf debut in the $50,000 Honeymoon Stakes at Louisiana Downs.

A one-mile race, the Honeymoon drew 11 fillies and mares including stakes winners Sea Bloom, Due to Win Again, Tiva's Little Sis, Tincan Too, and Cherylville Slew.

See How She Runs has worked well for the race, going five furlongs in 1:02.40 at Louisiana Downs on May 6.