INGLEWOOD, Calif. - The rider never saw it coming, nor did anyone else. Prized Friend was on his way to an apparent victory in the $150,000 Khaled Stakes on Saturday, when jockey Mike Smith said, "he just saw something and made a left. He felt to me like he was going to go on and win. Next thing I knew, I was on the ground."

Prized Friend jumped the inner rail at the top of the stretch, throwing Smith, and then came to a stop in the infield. Smith was taken by ambulance to Centinela Medical Center where X-rays revealed no broken bones and four hours later he was taken home.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Forget about Empire Maker. One of the country's most closely scrutinized horses Wednesday will be a California-bred gelding racing for a $10,000 claiming price in the third at Hollywood Park.

A pick six carryover of $171,686 is up for grabs, and Smokindowntheroad will be favored to win the first leg of the series, race 3. Smokindowntheroad stands out in the six-furlong claimer, despite facing older winners after racing in his own age group this winter at Santa Anita.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. - A layoff of nearly three years proved too much for General Challenge, who was defeated by more than 20 lengths in his comeback Saturday at Hollywood Park. But the torch that General Challenge once carried high for owner Golden Eagle Farm - the California breeding farm founded by the late John Mabee - was passed Sunday to a worthy successor.

SAN MATEO, Calif. - Jerry Hollendorfer, the trainer of possible Kentucky Derby starter Eye of the Tiger, will run another of his promising 3-year-olds, Nighthunter, at Bay Meadows Wednesday.

Nighthunter returns from a four-month layoff in the six-furlong race, and is trying to win his first allowance condition.

Nighthunter won his debut by seven lengths at six furlongs over a sloppy track at Golden Gate Fields Dec. 21. He'll meet six rivals Wednesday, three of whom are returning following wins and two others who finished second last time out.

CALGARY, Alberta - The inclement weather that forced the cancellation of the Saturday and Sunday programs at Stampede Park altered the plans of several trainers looking to prep their horses for upcoming stakes.

Trainer Floyd Arthur had entered Northern Neechitoo in an optional claimer on Saturday with an eye toward this Sunday's M.R. Jenkins Memorial, but Northern Neechitoo will have to go into the stakes off works alone.

The optional claimer was redrawn as Wednesday's second race. It attracted five fillies and mares, headed by the speedy Brighton Belle.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Trainer Gary Contessa has ruled out the Preakness for Grey Comet, the winner of Sunday's $150,000 Times Square Stakes at Aqueduct.

Before the Times Square, Contessa said he would consider the Preakness, the second leg of the Triple Crown at Pimlico on May 17, for New York-bred Grey Comet if the colt ran "really well." Contessa changed his mind after Grey Comet drifted out down the backstretch of the mile Times Square.

GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas - What an encore. Less than a month after he won the Grade 2 Potrero Grande over Kona Gold, former $10,000 claimer Bluesthestandard proved he was more than a one-turn wonder with an easy four-length victory in Saturday's Grade 3 Texas Mile at Lone Star Park.

The win opens up a whole new set of stakes options for Bluesthestandard, who will remain racing around two turns for the immediate future, said his trainer, Ted H. West. As a result, the gelding's next start will probably come in the Grade 3, $300,000 Lone Star Park Handicap at 1 1/16 miles May 26.

Love Sam ($26.60) may have earned himself a spot on the Preakness Stakes undercard by romping to a 7 1/4-length victory over four other Maryland-bred 3-year-olds in Sunday's $60,000 Star de Naskra Stakes at Pimlico.

Trainer Earl Begley said that Love Sam, who has come back from a fractured tibia last year to win two of his first three starts this season, could return on May 17 for the $100,000 Hirsch Jacobs, a six-furlong stakes for 3-year-olds.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Grey Comet, returning to restricted company for the first time since December, won Sunday's $150,000 Times Square Stakes for 3-year-olds at Aqueduct by a head over Raffit.

Don't Countess Out made her 2003 debut a winner, holding on through the final furlong for a head victory over Princess Jen in the $50,000 Prairie Rose Stakes. Don't Countess Out ($5.60) took the lead a quarter-mile out and stayed there. She was timed in 1:10.28 for the six furlongs.

Princess Jen rallied for the place, three-quarters of a length in front of 13-1 shot Wasted Wisdom. Even-money favorite For Rubies flashed speed but faded to finish sixth in the field of seven.