LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The sun shines bright? Not here, not now. Nearly a week's worth of rain at this old Kentucky home has been keeping the corn top from ripening and the meadows from blooming, not to mention the Churchill Downs main track from drying out.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. - The conditions of the $400,000 Californian Stakes at Hollywood Park should benefit likely favorite Western Pride.

The Grade 2 stakes is run over 1 1/8 miles on the main track, a distance that is ideal for the 5-year-old Western Pride, according to trainer Jim Chapman.

"I don't think he gets better at a mile and a quarter," Chapman said. "At a mile and an eighth, that's where he does all his good [running]."

ELMONT, N.Y. - Todd Pletcher, who appears well on his way to his third Belmont spring meet trainers title, could be set for a big stakes weekend at Belmont.

In addition to sending out Harlan's Holiday in the $250,000 Brooklyn Handicap and Lismore Knight in the $100,000 Hill Prince Saturday, Pletcher will send out the favored Ocean Drive in Sunday's $100,000 Sands Point for 3-year-old fillies on turf.

ELMONT, N.Y. - Provided Mother Nature allows the Grade 3, $100,000 Hill Prince to remain on the turf, bettors will be treated to a competitive wagering event.

Six of the eight runners slated to run the nine furlongs on the inner turf are coming off victories, and the two that are not have already proven themselves.

Trainer Joe Woodard has been fined $750 for starting the wrong horse at River Downs on May 30 and leading an incorrect horse over to race the following day, necessitating a late scratch.

On the 13th race on May 30, a $5,000 claiming race for fillies and mares who had never won two races, Woodard was supposed to start Sing High Sing Low. But he actually ran Mountain of Light, a maiden who finished last in the 12-horse field as the 5-2 favorite. Mountain of Light was claimed from the race under the misconception that she was Sing High Sing Low.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - For having raced just once since late March, Champali was in the news an awful lot this spring. The colt kept getting prominent mention as a potential entrant in the Lexington Stakes and Preakness, yet the only time he faced the starter was in his own back yard at Churchill Downs.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - It happened once, and it could very well happen again.

You, the filly who two years ago began her career at Churchill Downs as a $50,000 maiden-claimer, will bid for her second Grade 2 victory of the 2003 spring meet as the odds-on favorite Saturday in the $300,000 Fleur de Lis Handicap.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Unbeaten in two sprints this year, Buffythecenterfold faces a vital test in Saturday's $200,000 Hollywood Breeders' Cup Oaks.

A four-time stakes winner, she has yet to win at a route distance, but has found a field she can handle in the Grade 2 Oaks at 1 1/16 miles.

"I've always thought she could route," trainer Mel Stute said.

The biggest threat to Buffythecenterfold is Santa Catarina, the runner-up in the Kentucky Oaks, who returned two weeks later to finish a well-beaten third in the Black-Eyed Susan Stakes at Pimlico May 16.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. - For Tom Shapiro, the Hollywood Gold Cup is the centerpiece of his family's sporting legacy. Shapiro's grandfather, L.K. Shapiro, campaigned Native Diver, who won three consecutive Gold Cups from 1965-67.

On July 13, the Gold Cup will be run for the 64th time. Tom Shapiro and wife Debbie are hoping that their Calkins Road will be in the field. Saturday, Calkins Road can earn a trip to the $750,000 Gold Cup when he makes his 4-year-old debut in the $400,000 Californian Stakes over 1 1/8 miles.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Storming Home arrived from England last winter with a reputation as a threat in the major turf stakes at 1 1/4 miles and beyond. So far, he has met all expectations.

The 5-year-old Storming Home won his U.S. debut in the Jim Murray Memorial Handicap last month and will be a strong favorite to win his second stakes of the year in the $350,000 Charles Whittingham Memorial Handicap over 1 1/4 miles on turf at Hollywood Park.

If Storming Home repeats his last race, he will only solidify his position as the top turf distance horse in the nation.