ELMONT, N.Y. - Tuesday at Belmont Park, Funny Cide had his first serious workout since competing in the Triple Crown.

With exercise rider Robin Smullen in the saddle, Funny Cide worked five furlongs in 58.69 seconds, breezing, over a fast track. The move, which took place at 5:30 a.m., was the third-fastest of 20 works at the distance. According to the Belmont clockers, the gelding completed his first quarter-mile in 23.35 and ran the first three furlongs 35.02. Funny Cide galloped out six furlongs in 1:11.89.

Horses from both coasts of the United States have begun converging on Canterbury Park for the fifth annual Claiming Crown, the six-race series that will be run Saturday at the Shakopee, Minn., track.

A planeload of 16 horses from East Coast tracks arrived Tuesday in Minnesota, while four horses from California were scheduled to arrive Wednesday. Vans from Kentucky, Illinois, Iowa, and elsewhere also were scheduled to transport horses to Canterbury for the Claiming Crown, in which about 65 horses are expected to compete.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. - California-based trainer Nick Canani has accepted a position from the nation's leading owner, Michael Gill, and will take over a 60-horse string next week at Bowie Training Center in Maryland. Canani said Gill offered him the job Friday, and that he will relocate early next week.

The winners of the two most recent runnings of the Cowdin Stakes for juveniles meet in Belmont's featured $47,000 allowance race Thursday. The six-furlong race for nonwinners of three has attracted a field of seven horses, ages 3 and up.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. - When 2-year-old maidens are running on turf, it means the end of the meet is at hand. Inventive racing secretary Martin Panza carded two turf sprints Thursday at Hollywood Park, giving horsemen an option of running in an easy spot now or waiting until the competition grows intense when Del Mar opens next week.

Maiden sprints at Del Mar annually bring out the best of the 2-year-old division.

It was no surprise when Lacie Girl won the $50,800 Vacaville Handicap at the Solano County Fair in Vallejo last Saturday.

But few expected the performance given by runner-up Pheiffer, a 5-year-old mare racing for the first time since finishing third in last summer's Luther Burbank Handicap at Santa Rosa.

CHICAGO - Curt Bourque was riding first call for trainer Wayne Catalano and owner Frank Calabrese at the start of the Arlington meet. But not too many weeks had gone by before Bourque had lost his position with the stable. By then, Bourque had a foothold here, and he has put together a good run even without Catalano and Calabrese. But shortly after the ax fell, Bourque expressed one regret. He wasn't going to get to ride Ajedrez, an Argentine import Catalano was bringing up to his U.S. debut.

AUBURN, Wash. - Six older horses, each eligible to be claimed for $14,000 to $16,000, match strides in Thursday's one-mile feature at Emerald Downs.

Summer Colony, attempting to become only the fifth back-to-back winner and sixth two-time winner of the Delaware Handicap, is the 122-pound highweight and 2-1 morning line favorite for Sunday's 66th running of Delaware Park's premier race.

Trained by Mark Hennig and ridden by John Velazquez, Summer Colony drew the outermost post position in a field of eight older fillies and mares going 1 1/4 miles in the Handicap, which has been upgraded to Grade 2 status. No horse has won consecutive runnings of the race since Nastique in 1988 and 1989.

OCEANPORT, N.J. - New Jersey-based horses and horsemen had a big impact last weekend at Calder's Summit of Speed.

Trainers Tim Hills and Dennis Manning each won a stakes, and "Jersey" Joe Bravo rode both winners.

Hills won with Joe's Son Joey in the $100,000 Calder Turf Sprint, and attributed the success to the abundance of five-furlong grass races run at Monmouth and The Meadowlands.