VANCOUVER, British Columbia - Terry Jordan hasn't been able to run Gamblin Caper since the Hastings meet began April 21, but it hasn't been for lack of trying. Gamblin Caper, who was claimed for $25,000 out of his last start at Santa Anita Feb. 17, had been entered three times before Saturday, when he will run in a $50,000 optional race for 3-year-olds going 6 1/2 furlongs.

CALGARY, Alberta - They Call Me Cody has a chance to reverse his fortunes Saturday in a $16,200 non-winners of two allowance that runs as the fourth race on a nine-race card.

They Call Me Cody tested the best older horses on this circuit last year, and with a little racing luck could have won more than once.

CALGARY, Alberta - King Me, the champion claimer on this circuit last year, returned to his winning ways here May 3 with a score over $28,000 claimers in which he covered six furlongs in a rapid 1:10.40.

The same afternoon, Fancy As captured the Stampede Park Sprint Championship in 1:10.20. King Me's trainer, Don Gilkyson, noted the comparison in times between the two races, and he promptly promoted King Me to Friday's eighth race, a $20,300 optional claimer.

AUBURN, Wash. - Knight in Silver and Right You Are, the second and third finishers in a 5 1/2-furlong race on May 3, will be rematched in Friday's six-furlong feature at Emerald Downs, a $25,000 claiming race that has drawn a field of seven 3-year-olds.

BALTIMORE - Mineshaft has twice won graded stakes. He is a son of A.P. Indy, and is out of a mare by Mr. Prospector. He has all the ingredients to make a top sire. One key element remains to be filled on his rŽsumŽ, though. He has yet to race in, or win, a Grade 1 stakes race, but he will get that chance on Friday, when he is expected to go off the favorite against eight rivals in the $600,000 Pimlico Special.

Just how important is a Grade 1 win?

"It's paramount," his trainer, Neil Howard, said Wednesday morning at Pimlico Race Course.

It may be a surprise if trainer Bob Baffert bags his third straight Preakness on Saturday, but it would certainly not be shocking if the white-haired trainer captures his second career Black-Eyed Susan when that race is run for the 78th time Friday at Pimlico.

The runner-up in the Kentucky Oaks, the Baffert-trained Santa Catarina figures to go off as a strong favorite in the Grade 2, $200,000 Black-Eyed Susan, which drew a field of 10 but lost Holiday Lady at scratch time. Baffert won this race in 1999 with Silverbulletday.

BALTIMORE - Saturday's Pimlico card is a stakes bonanza, with seven stakes races, four of them graded, preceding the Preakness Stakes.

The best of the seven is the $200,000 Citgo Dixie, a Grade 2 race at 1 1/8 miles on turf that has attracted a field of 10, including such top-class runners as Blue Steller, Del Mar Show, and Sarafan.

Sarafan has shipped in from California for his first start of the year. He was beaten a nose in last year's Japan Cup, and has not raced since finishing a close fourth in the Hong Kong Cup on Dec. 15.

ELMONT, N.Y. - On Wednesday at Belmont Park, Empire Maker had his first work since finishing second as the favorite in the May 3 Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs.

Empire Maker, under jockey Javier Castellano, worked a half-mile in 48.76 seconds, breezing, after the renovation break at 8:45 a.m.

Castellano, who had worked Empire Maker when he was stabled at Belmont last fall, said he noticed a difference in the Unbridled colt when he got on him for the first time this year on Wednesday.

ELMONT, N.Y. - Abreeze ran some huge races last year at Belmont Park and Saratoga, particularly over wet tracks.

In Friday's $58,000 money-allowance feature at Belmont, the conditions should be perfect for Abreeze to turn in another powerful performance. Rain is in the forecast for Thursday evening and Friday's twilight racing card.

Abreeze is the one to beat among five older horses in the 1 1/8-mile race. Also entered are stakes winners Request for Parole, Ground Storm, and Free of Love. Pleasant Divorce completes the field.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Awesome Humor, previously unbeaten, finished a nonthreatening fourth as the 1-2 favorite in the Wednesday feature at Churchill Downs, a six-furlong allowance won by Love Talkin.

It was Awesome Humor's first start since undergoing ankle surgery. Her 2-year-old season ended with a victory in the Grade 1 Spinaway on Aug. 30.

Awesome Humor, the only 3-year-old in a field of six, was beaten 14 lengths, losing for the first time in five career starts for her trainer, Elliott Walden.