NEW ORLEANS - What are Pretty Gale's six opponents Friday in the Truly Bound Handicap to do? Run with her early and they compromise their finish. Let her loose on a clear lead and they may never see more than her back end.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. - For the majority of the 1990's, one couldn't discuss New York racing without bringing up the name Gasper Moschera. The former carpet store owner was the New York Racing Association circuit's leading trainer from 1993 through 1998.

ARCADIA, Calif. - Lil Sister Stich stormed down the center of the course and got up in the final yards to beat Pina Colada by a head in a roughly run Grade 3, $114,700 Monrovia Handicap, the featured stake on the New Year's Eve card at Santa Anita.

Lil Sister Stich benefited by rallying on the outside in a hillside turf course race in which several horses on the inside were hampered by severe traffic. Lil Sister Stich had to survive a stewards's inquiry, which was launched to investigate the tight quarters she was in with I'm The Business crossing the dirt course.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Hall of Fame jockey Jerry Bailey was preparing to work another horse on a warm and busy Tuesday morning at Gulfstream Park when he was asked if he were ready for the 2003 meet to begin.

"Why not?" he asked with a grin.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Trainer Rick Violette had more to celebrate last Saturday than Man From Wicklow's one-length victory in the Grade 2, $200,000 W.L. McKnight Handicap at Calder.

ARCADIA, Calif. - He once praised him. Still does. But now he'd rather beat him. Trainers Julio Canani and Bobby Frankel are good friends. Canani worshiped Frankel, calling him "Presidente" when Frankel years ago began his steady ascent to the top of California's training list. Now, they often run against each other, though Frankel has a far larger barn, and thus more firepower.

NEW ORLEANS - First Discreet Hero, then Rock Slide, and finally Learned bowed out of Thursday's Louisiana Handicap, and what might have been a complex and interesting field has grown pallid. But it's all fine for Connected.

Connected finished third to Rock Slide and Discreet Hero in the Dec. 8 Tenacious Handicap, and his stock has risen with each defection. With a proper pace in front of him Thursday, Connected is the horse to beat in the $75,000, 1 1/16-mile Louisiana.

ARCADIA, Calif. - The last day of 2002 on Tuesday melded seamlessly with the dawn of 2003 at Santa Anita, when the unbeaten Vindication, the probable Eclipse Award winner as champion 2-year-old colt and the early favorite for the Kentucky Derby, had his first work since capturing the Breeders' Cup Juvenile.

ALBANY, Calif. - Concerns about the condition of the track prompted northern California trainers and track officials on Tuesday to discuss the possibility of moving the Golden Gate races to Bay Meadows next Wednesday.

The Bay Area has been hit with an unusual amount of rain for the last three weeks. Some trainers say the track has become uneven, with the outside surface much heavier than the inside, which compromises horses racing on the outside. They also said there is not enough room to train their horses, because dogs have been set up to protect the inside part of the track.

Pennsylvania horsemen and Philadelphia Park agreed to a one-year contract on Monday, avoiding the possibility of a shutdown of live racing and simulcasting on New Year's Day.

Under the new contract, horsemen will continue to receive 31 percent of all wagering revenues, as stipulated in the five-year contract that expired Tuesday.

Greenwood Racing, the owner of Philadelphia Park, had been seeking another five-year contract, but horsemen were reluctant to commit themselves for more than 12 months because of the possible introduction of slots legislation later this year.