Christophe Clement is widely acknowledged to be one of the premier turf trainers in the country. That reputation sometimes overshadows the fact that Clement has also had some pretty good success with his dirt runners.

The latest main-track star in Clement's arsenal is Region of Merit, who will make his stakes debut against eight other 3-year-olds in Sunday's $250,000 Tampa Bay Derby. The 1 1/16-mile Tampa Derby is the highlight of the Tampa Bay Downs season and tops a program that also includes the $150,000 Florida Oaks and the $100,000 Hillsboro Stakes.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. - There are no headline names or a clear-cut favorite in Sunday's $200,000 Gotham at Aqueduct. Instead, a competitive group of 3-year-olds are in the 11-horse field.

The Grade 3 Gotham, a prep for the $750,000 Wood Memorial on April 12, will be run on the inner track for the first time since 1984. Traditionally run at a one-turn mile on the main track, the Gotham will be contested at a mile and 70 yards around two turns because of a delay in the opening of the main track.

The Gotham will be televised live on ESPN2 at 4:50 p.m.

ARCADIA, Calif. - The phone is answered at Gary Garber's Solana Beach home by a very pleasant-sounding woman who says her husband is at work and offers the number. Garber himself is pleasant, a successful businessman and inveterate horseplayer who, whether at Santa Anita for morning workouts or afternoon races, always has an impish grin.

ARCADIA, Calif. - Hall of Fame jockey Laffit Pincay Jr. is one week into an eight-week recovery period for a serious neck injury suffered in a spill at Santa Anita March 1.

The injury, two fractures to the second cervical bone in his neck, threatens to end his remarkable career, highlighted by 9,530 wins, the most by any jockey ever.

While Pincay, 56, has not stated whether he will attempt a return to riding, his son, Laffit III, a television commentator for Horse Racing Television at Santa Anita, is urging his father to call it a career.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Gold Mover and Harmony Lodge, who traded decisions the last two times they met, renew their rivalry Sunday in the $100,000 Hurricane Bertie Stakes at Gulfstream Park.

The ungraded 6 1/2-furlong race is also the seasonal debut of Belterra, a top 2-year-old filly who was hampered by illness last year at 3. Completing the field are Preferred Option,

Silk Concorde, and the Mark Shuman-trained entry of Rebecca's Charm and Dance the Slew.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Trainer John Ward finally conceded Friday that Sky Mesa would not run in the Kentucky Derby, but said "we might be able to make the Belmont" Stakes on June 7 if everything were to break right.

Ward, unhappy with the way Sky Mesa was responding to treatment for a bruised right front foot, shipped Sky Mesa on Tuesday to the Rood and Riddle Equine Clinic in Lexington, Ky., where he was examined by Dr. Larry Bramlage. All Bramlage did was confirm the bruise.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Snake Mountain, the 123-pound highweight and winner of his last four starts - three in Aqueduct stakes - will be the favorite in Sunday's $75,000-added Stymie Handicap at Aqueduct.

The 1 1/8-mile Stymie was postponed on March 8 because of poor track conditions.

Ground Storm, who was not entered when the Stymie was drawn initially, is now in the seven-horse field. The delay in running the Stymie allowed Ground Storm, who won the race last year, to recover from a quarter crack and work a half-mile on Thursday at Belmont Park.

Portland Meadows is bidding to have Instant Racing machines installed before the start of its next scheduled meeting, which begins in October.

Instant Racing, currently in use at Oaklawn Park in Arkansas, has patrons wager at video terminals on previously run races. While some handicapping information is provided, the names of the horses are concealed.

Under state law, the Oregon Racing Commission can approve the use of the machines without further action from the state legislature, according to Jody Hanson, the commission's executive secretary.

Has the elevator reached the top floor for Shake the Dice? If so, is it about to plummet straight into the basement?

Those are two of the questions handicappers must ask themselves when trying to evaluate Shake the Dice's chances in Sunday's $60,000 Endless Surprise at Laurel Park.

After putting together a string of five straight victories, rising on the Beyer Speed Figure scale from 84 to 105, and climbing the class ladder, the 5-year-old Shake the Dice flopped last time out when he faced graded stakes company for the first time.

PORTLAND, Ore. - "I have absolutely no idea if she will go long," said Nick Lowe, the trainer of Our Lucky Kiss. "But I'm going to find out on Sunday."

Lowe is not alone. All six of the Oregon-bred 3-year-old fillies nominated for Sunday's one mile Mary Goldblatt Stakes are unproven around two turns.