NEW ORLEANS - Lots of Sizzle's first four races blended immaturity and ability. The colt appeared to run in spurts, and when things got serious in the stretch, he wasn't all there. But in his fifth try, Lots of Sizzle figured things out, scoring a breakthrough one-length maiden win on Jan. 30.

NEW ORLEANS - Badge of Silver isn't a stout, strapping horse, but his 10-length win in Sunday's Risen Star Stakes apparently didn't sap his energy. Badge of Silver dove into his feed tub Sunday night and didn't seem overly tired Monday, trainer Ronny Werner said. He won't know for sure until Badge of Silver returns to the racetrack for exercise, but Werner thought Badge of Silver came out of the race in fine physical shape.

ALBANY, Calif. - Many apprentice riders get the first victory of their career by racing wide and avoiding all possible problems.

Not Marcia Stortz.

Stortz, 25, rode her first winner at Golden Gate Fields on Saturday, hugging the rail with Gifted Athlete ($12.20) in a six-furlong $3,200 claimer.

Stortz said Gifted Athlete's trainer, Reina Gonzalez, told her to stay on the rail a little off the pace, and to make her move in the stretch.

SAN MATEO, Calif. - Bay Meadows will run 16 stakes races, including six worth at least $100,000, at its upcoming spring meet, April 2 through June 15.

That is five fewer stakes than at last year's spring meet, but only one of the five races was eliminated. Two will instead be run during the current Golden Gate Fields meet, and two stakes races for 2-year-olds were moved to the fall.

The meet's premier race will be the Grade 2 San Francisco Breeders' Cup Mile. The $200,000 turf race at will be held April 26.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Following a disappointing one-year stint as a Grade 1 race, Woodbine's Niagara Breeders' Cup Handicap has been bumped back to Grade 2 status for its 2003 running.

The Niagara, a $300,000 turf race for 3-year-olds and upward, was the only race to undergo a change of grading on this year's schedule of graded stakes.

The complete list, released Tuesday by the Jockey Club of Canada's Canadian Graded Stakes Committee, comprises 40 races worth a total of $7.845 million.

Jockeys Seth Martinez, Wilson Dieguez and O. A. Martinez, sustained injuries in a three-horse spill, Monday at Turf Paradise.

Seth Martinez, 24, the meet's leading rider, suffered an apparent broken collarbone. Dieguez, 29, sustained a contusion to the head. Both riders were taken to John C. Lincoln Hospital. O.A. Martinez, 38, suffered a broken nose and returned to the jocks' room.

ARCADIA, Calif. - A few years ago, the New Zealand import Happyanunoit was one of the top turf females in trainer Bobby Frankel's stable before her retirement in the summer of 2001.

Frankel may have found a suitable replacement from New Zealand in Final Destination.

On Monday at Santa Anita, the 5-year-old Final Destination won her first stakes in the United States in the $150,000 over a mile on turf.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Both Trust N Luck and Badge of Silver, who scored overpowering victories in the weekend's key 3-year-old stakes, came out of their races in good order and established themselves as the horses to beat in the next round of Kentucky Derby preps in March.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Monday's card at Aqueduct was canceled because of a severe blizzard, and the $75,000-added Rare Treat Handicap was moved to Wednesday.

Martha's Music, who is based at Philadelphia Park and shooting for her fifth straight win, is the one to beat. Owned by Leonard Green's D J Stable, Martha's Music is the 119-pound highweight.

On Monday, Martha's Music's trainer, John Servis, was shoveling snow after Philadelphia was hit with two feet over the weekend. He said he was confident Martha's Music would be on a van early Wednesday for the Rare Treat.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - The prospective starting lineup for Saturday's $500,000 Donn Handicap swelled to as many as 11 horses on Monday, in large part because of the defection of Lido Palace, who was withdrawn from consideration for the race on Saturday by trainer Bobby Frankel.