HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Sky Mesa, unraced since winning the Lane's End Breeders' Futurity at Keeneland last October, has missed two days of training with a bruised right front heel, something his connections term a minor setback in the colt's bid to rejoin the Triple Crown trail.

Trainer John Ward said Sky Mesa came out of a strong five-furlong workout at Gulfstream Park Feb. 18 in good shape, and most likely bruised the heel by "over-galloping" when he returned to training at Palm Beach Downs.

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - Bien Nicole, a turf specialist who has not raced on dirt since she won her maiden in September of 2001, runs on the main track Thursday in the featured ninth race at Oaklawn Park.

The 1 1/16-mile money allowance drew six fillies and mares, including Mckinney, third-place finisher last out in the $50,000 Pippin Stakes. The purse is $36,000, and the race could produce starters for the Grade 3, $200,000 Oaklawn Breeders' Cup on March 15.

ALBANY, Calif. - Thursday's feature race at Golden Gate Fields offers bettors a test in turf pedigree handicapping.

The one-mile race for 3-year-old maiden fillies is scheduled for the grass. Only two of the seven fillies have run on the turf before, and both of those only once, in a Nov. 27 race that came on a turf course labeled good. The course on Thursday will again be on the soft side after rain earlier in the week.

The likely favorite is Can I Call You Dad, trained by Brent Sumja, who bred and owns the filly with Dr. Robert Domush and Clay Murdock.

NEW ORLEANS - The Californians are coming to the New Orleans Handicap after all. But will it matter?

Three Southern California-based horses - Olmodavor, Sunday Break, and Tracemark - are scheduled to fly to New Orleans on Friday. Their presence boosts the field for Sunday's $500,000, Grade 2 Handicap, which already had been shaping up to be a strong race. Balto Star, Best of the Rest, and Booklet are shipping here from Florida this week for the race, and the local contingent includes Bonapaw, Learned, Mineshaft, and Valhol.

NEW ORLEANS - Two 3-year-old fillies, one sprinting, the other routing, make Thursday's program at Fair Grounds required viewing. Bayou Mist turned in an extremely sharp debut here Feb. 1, and she runs back in the seventh race, a first-level allowance at six furlongs. Two races later, Caucus starts for the first time since a disastrous trip at Keeneland in last October's Alcibiades Stakes obscured her tremendous natural ability.

Based on what Auto City has done in his brief career, he's an ideal candidate to outrun his pedigree.

As a son of Carson City, the 3-year-old Auto City could be expected to be best suited for sprints. But when asked to try two turns for the first time in a first-level allowance race last month, Auto City responded with a lifetime-best 91 Beyer Speed Figure while finishing second behind the highly regarded Colita.

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - Oaklawn Park officials on Tuesday canceled the track's live program for Wednesday because of a winter storm that moved into the area overnight. A decision on whether the track will race Thursday was to be made Wednesday afternoon.

The cancellation is the fifth of the meet, which was pushed back a week because of inclement weather.

"We see no way for the racing strip to be suitable for racing on Wednesday," said Eric Jackson, Oaklawn's general manager. "This has been such an unusual winter, that we have to take each day as it comes."

OZONE PARK, N.Y. - It was a schedule that worked well last year. Trainer Richard Schosberg ran Affirmed Success in an allowance race early in January 2002 and the horse finished second. He came back to finish third in the General George and then followed with wins in the Toboggan and Grade 1 Carter.

This year, the harsh winter has required Schosberg to call a few audibles.

ARCADIA, Calif. - Congaree and Medaglia d'Oro, the two top handicap horses in California, remain on schedule for Saturday's $1 million Santa Anita Handicap, but trainer Bobby Frankel on Monday warned that Medaglia d'Oro was not a definite starter.

Frankel said he was upset that Medaglia d'Oro was given the same 124-pound weight assignment as Congaree, and that he may skip the richest race of the Santa Anita meeting.

"It's a long year," he said. "He's been given 124 pounds. Where does he go from there? I'll have to think about it."

ARCADIA, Calif. - Last year, Crafty C.T. started in four Grade 1 races from May to November, but finished second or third after finding trouble or racing wide in each one.

This Sunday, Crafty C.T. tries to end that losing streak in top races when he makes his first start of the year in the $200,000 San Carlos Handicap over seven furlongs, the only Grade 1 sprint stakes at the Santa Anita winter-spring meeting.