OZONE PARK, N.Y. - When Jennifer Pedersen brought Griffinite to the 2001 Preakness she was in the same barn with the likes of trainers Bob Baffert, Nick Zito, and John Ward.

For a woman who was 14 years removed from her only previous training experience and who had just two months earlier taken over the training duties for Ernie Paragallo's Paraneck Stable, it was an intimidating experience.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. - It was not Mother Nature but a plane's mechanical failure that was to delay by one day the arrival of Empire Maker for Saturday's $750,000 Wood Memorial at Aqueduct.

Scheduled to leave Monday night aboard a cargo plane, Empire Maker and stablemates Aldebaran and Special Rate remained in Los Angeles after the plane suffered some sort of mechanical problem and could not take off. The trio of horses twice made the short trip from Hollywood Park to Los Angeles International Airport only to return to trainer Bobby Frankel's barn.

LEXINGTON, Ky. - Days before the Fountain of Youth Stakes, Offlee Wild worked awfully fast at Gulfstream Park, five furlongs in 57.40 seconds, a drill that trainer T.V. Smith thought might have contributed to the colt's lackluster fourth-place finish in that race.

Smith had no desire to repeat that on Tuesday morning here at Keeneland, when Offlee Wild had his final workout for Saturday's $750,000 Toyota Blue Grass Stakes, his first start since the Fountain of Youth. But what transpired, Smith admitted, was not ideal.

LEXINGTON, Ky. - The maiden victory that My Boston Gal posted at Keeneland last October was of the easiest variety imaginable, regardless of what the mere 2 3/4-length margin may suggest.

News of her career debut spread so quickly that, before anyone knew it, My Boston Gal had bloodstock agents coming out of the woodwork. Her status was enhanced exponentially by two subsequent victories at Churchill Downs, including a 3 1/4-length win in the Golden Rod Stakes, and she headed to Florida for the winter unbeaten in three starts.

Turfway Park, beset by poor weather that led to 16 full or partial cancellations, had major declines in total handle and a significant decrease in ontrack handle at the winter-spring meet, which ended April 3.

EAST BOSTON, Mass. - Wintry weather wiped out another two racing days at Suffolk Downs as track management canceled racing Tuesday and Wednesday in the wake of a snowstorm Monday night.

Despite only a couple of inches of snowfall in the Boston area, riders expressed concerns about uneven sections of the course, prompting track officials to call off the balance of the racing week's cards.

"With more rain coming this week it's not going to get any better - in fact it might get worse," said Bob O'Malley, chief operating officer of Suffolk Downs.

LEXINGTON, Ky. - Once in a while, Midnight Cry runs off the proverbial television screen. Interspersed with some rather disappointing losses during her seven-race career are three impressive victories, and it is those runaway wins that have led trainer Ken McPeek to try Midnight Cry in Thursday's $250,000 Stonerside Beaumont Stakes at Keeneland.

Last fall at Keeneland, Midnight Cry ran big in defeating a decent group of entry-level allowance fillies. Three starts later, it was the same story when she drew off to win the Grade 3 Forward Gal Stakes on March 14 at Gulfstream.

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - Can he compete at racing's top level or is he just a regional standout?

Beau's Town's owners plan to find out this year. They are plotting a campaign for Beau's Town that they hope will land him in the Breeders' Cup Sprint.

It starts Thursday at Oaklawn Park in the Grade 3, $150,000 Count Fleet Sprint Handicap, in which Beau's Town, the 122-pound highweight, will be an odds-on favorite.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Request for Parole passed his first turf test with flying colors, rallying from far back to win a fourth-level optional claiming race during the opening week of the meet. His second test comes Thursday when Request for Parole is part of a tougher, stakes-caliber field in a $43,000 money allowance race.

ALBANY, Calif. - Trainer Jeff Bonde is known for the success he has with his good young stock.

On Thursday, he enters speedy Hajji Babe and her talented stablemate Jaciro in a six-furlong, $50,000 optional claimer for 3-year-old fillies.

On Saturday, he will send out stakes-winning Mr. Technique and Souvenir's Lad in the $100,000 California Derby.

The two fillies seem like standouts Thursday, though they were beaten by Dancing Spray in their last start March 12 at Bay Meadows.

"I hope they don't get in each other's way like they did last time," Bonde said.