INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Excess Summer scored his fourth stakes win of 2004 in Saturday's $107,900 On Trust Handicap at Hollywood Park, giving Hall of Fame jockey Gary Stevens a stakes win on his first day of riding since late October.

Excess Summer was always near the front. He disputed the lead with Coconut Mango on the backstretch, took the lead before reaching the turn and pulled clear to score by 3 1-2 lengths over Green Team. Trained by Jeff Mullins for a partnership, Excess Summer ($11) finished 7 1-2 furlongs in 1:27.13.

ALBANY, Calif. - Skipaslew ($19.80) raced wide on both turns but finished well to win the $7 Gold Rush Stakes on Saturday at Golden Gate Fields.

Favored The Herc, the lone speed in the race, took the lead as expected in the one-mile race for 2-year-olds. Jockey Matt Garcia slowed the speedster down through 23.23, 46.19 fractions. He couldn't hold off Skipaslew in the lane, as Skipaslew won by a neck in 1:36.12. O.K. Mikie closed well for third another two lengths back.

MIAMI - Trainer Bill Cesare was convinced Second of June was a very good horse after he overcame a brutal trip to win his career debut this summer. Those who watched Second of June easily defeat eight other 2-year-olds, including Grade 1 Hopeful winner Silver Wagon, in Saturday's $100,000 at Calder surely agree with Cesare's evaluation.

OLDSMAR, Fla. - At about 2 p.m. Saturday at Tampa Bay Downs, jockey Terry Houghton was in the starting gate aboard a Thoroughbred for the first time in about 14 months. He wound up finishing eighth aboard Ginger Roo in the fourth race.

Considering what happened to Houghton a little over a year ago, it was probably the sweetest eighth-place finish of his career.

PORTLAND, Ore. - Nomoreskoal will attempt to make it three wins in a row when he heads a field of eight in Monday's best race at Portland Meadows, a mile event for older horses eligible to be claimed for $5,000 down to $4,000.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. - A one-week postponement of the Queens County Handicap may have toughened the competition, but none of that fazed Thunder Blitz.

Despite trying to lug in during the stretch run, Thunder Blitz pulled away from pacesetting Unforgettable Max in the final furlong and drew clear to a 1 1/2-length victory in the Grade 3, $108,300 Queens County before 7,732 on Stocking Stuffer giveaway day at Aqueduct.

NEW ORLEANS - Steve Asmussen got lost in the fog, but his horse, Spritely Walker, found his way home in the $150,000 . The Classic was the feature on a card that comprised 10 stakes for statebreds.

Heavy rain fell here Saturday morning, and then the fog rolled in. Several races were run through an impenetrable bank, and Asmussen, on his way from Houston, had his plane diverted to Mississippi. He was driving toward the city when Spritely Walker charged into view and up the rail for a narrow victory over Prince Slew, who fought bravely in the center of the track.

MIAMI - Barbara O'Brien is such a rogue that trainer Harry Benson had to get special permission to saddle her outside the paddock before Saturday's $100,000 Chaposa Springs Handicap. But Barbara O'Brien behaved like a lady in the winner's circle after rallying to an easy 5 1/4-length victory over Holy Bubbette in the Grade 3 Chaposa Springs, the only graded race of the four stakes on Calder's Grand Slam I program.

Worldly Pleasure pulled a $24.20 upset in the $60,000 Politely Stakes for 3-year-old Maryland-bred fillies at Laurel Park. Worldly Pleasure and jockey Jose Caraballo raced near the front throughout the seven-furlong test, took the lead a sixteenth of a mile from the wire, and held off Allens Blessing by a head. Bamba was third.

In the day's other stakes, odds-on favorite Excellent Band won the $40,000 H. Steward Mitchell Stakes for 2-year-olds by 1 1/4 lengths over Iron Bison. Only five ran in the scratch-reduced field.

FLORENCE, Ky. - Ask the Lord surged past pacesetter Wild Lies with a four-wide rally and scored a head victory over Sonic West in the $50,000 Prairie Bayou Stakes at Turfway Park on Saturday.

Confidently ridden by leading jockey Rafael Bejarano, Ask the Lord stalked the early pace in third as Wild Lies and Play It Out established fractions of 23.97 seconds and 48.15 in the 1 1/8-mile race. Ask the Lord advanced with a wide rally to take command with six furlongs in 1:13.06, then turned back a stretch rally from Sonic West. Doc D finished 4 1/4 lengths back in third.