CHICAGO - Honor in War, on the strength of his neck victory in the $250,000 Arlington Handicap here Saturday, remains on track for the Arlington Million on Aug. 16. And a million-dollar race is a fine place to be headed if you are a trainer whose season has been dented by injuries.

"He's just fine. He came out of the race in good shape," the trainer Paul McGee said Sunday. McGee has a handful of horses at Arlington, but keeps his main string in Kentucky. Nevertheless, he said Honor in War would remain at Arlington to train up to the Million.

SANTA ROSA, Calif. - Brandon's Babydoll, a 4-year-old filly, may not be the fastest runner among the seven fillies and mares entered in Wednesday's six-furlong Sonoma County Fair feature race, but she might be the toughest.

"She had a fractured hind leg as a 3-year-old," said her trainer, Deanna Cook. "It was so bad she had to be cross-tied in her stall to make sure she didn't lie down. If she lay down, she might have compounded the fracture. It was touch and go. We didn't know if she'd make it."

Brandon's Babydoll made it, and Cook knew she had a little talent.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Film Maker burst out of the pack once clear at midstretch and drew off to an easy 2 1/2-length victory over the 6-5 favorite, Ocean Drive, in Monday's $114,000 Lake George Stakes at Saratoga. Gal O Gal finished third.

Edgar Prado rode Film Maker to victory for trainer H. Graham Motion. A 3-year-old daughter of by Dynaformer, Film Maker paid $20 after covering 1 1/16 miles in 1:41.80 over a firm course.

DEL MAR, Calif. - Kona Gold, who delighted Southern California fans by competing against the best sprinters in the West, and the nation, for six seasons, was retired on Sunday, one day after finishing fifth in Del Mar's Bing Crosby Handicap, his first career loss at Del Mar.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Medaglia d'Oro has not started since dominating the Oaklawn Park Handicap on April 5. But any thoughts the four-month layoff might impact his performance in Saturday's $750,000 Whitney Handicap were likely put to rest after Medaglia d'Oro looked razor-sharp working six furlongs in 1:12.30 here Sunday morning.

Medaglia d'Oro will be the overwhelming favorite and starting highweight under

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - The complexion of Sunday's $500,000 Jim Dandy Stakes changed Monday morning after trainer Bob Baffert confirmed that he is sending During to Saratoga for the Grade 2 race.

During's presence should help assure a realistic pace in the 1 1/8-mile Jim Dandy. In the Grade 2 Swaps

at Hollywood Park July 13, During set the pace, was headed by both Ten Most Wanted and Eye of the Tiger in early stretch, and then reasserted himself to post a courageous head win.

DEL MAR, Calif. - The hard-luck comeback story of Sarava just got a whole lot harder, and he's going to need a whole lot more luck. Just hours after finishing sixth of nine in an allowance race on Saturday at Del Mar, in his first start since winning the 2002 Belmont Stakes, Sarava underwent emergency surgery for a twisted colon at the San Luis Rey Equine Clinic.

As of Monday morning, Sarava was doing better, according to his trainer, Bob Baffert. But Baffert cautioned that Sarava is "not out of the woods."

DEL MAR, Calif. - Megahertz scored her first win in a Grade 1 race in Saturday's $400,000 John Mabee Handicap at Del Mar, outrunning Tates Creek, Dublino, and Golden Apples, who finished in a three-way dead heat for second.

Making her fourth start in a Grade 1 stakes, Megahertz ($18.40) rallied wide under jockey Alex Solis to reach the front in the final strides.

Megahertz, 4, finished a half-length in front of the trio after 1 1/8 miles in 1:49.09. Voz de Colegiala, who led until early stretch, finished last of five.

OCEANPORT, N.J. - Wednesday kicks off a very interesting week of racing for trainer Ben Perkins Jr. at Monmouth Park.

Perkins will run the unbeaten Unforgettable Max in the Wednesday's featured $39,000 allowance race.

Sunday, Perkins swings for the track's biggest prize, the Grade 1, $1 million Haskell Invitational, with Max Forever.

Perkins expressed ambivalence about a Haskell bid following Max Forever's victory in the Grade 3 Long Branch Stakes.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Next Monday will mark a very unhappy one-year anniversary for trainer Steve Owens and others who suffered losses in a barn fire that led to the deaths of 34 horses here at Woodbine.

Owens lost his entire ontrack complement of 14 horses, a crushing blow for the racing and breeding programs of his own family and of several longtime owners.

"It's been a traumatic experience," Owens said. "All of my owners have suffered. Some of them are trying to get back into the game, and it's a long grieving process."