LEXINGTON, Ky. - Danny Hutt thought he might have had a starter for the 128th Kentucky Derby in Bunk N Ted. But when that colt came up with a quarter crack "and a couple of other little problems," Hutt no longer had a Derby horse.

Hold that thought - if only for a moment. Red Masque, a Red Ransom colt Hutt trains for Real Deal Racing, will "absolutely go to the Derby if we can get in" after upsetting five other 3-year-olds, including heavily favored Royal Gem, in the $111,000 Forerunner Stakes at Keeneland on Wednesday.

CHICAGO - His last running line will make you wince, and the chart caller's comment concerning his performance - "collapsed after race" - might send you scurrying toward an alternative. And still, is very much the horse to beat Saturday at Sportsman's Park in the $200,000 National Jockey Club Handicap.

ARCADIA, Calif. - Friday's $100,000 Valiant Pete Handicap at Santa Anita is a comeback for Full Moon Madness, rested after a year-long layoff. The same can be said about his trainer, Robert Marshall.

When Full Moon Madness went to the sidelines last spring, Marshall decided to also take a break. The 57-year-old trainer turned over his horses to assistant Ruben Cardenas and hit the road.

JAMAICA, N.Y. - The cancellation of this year's Pimlico Special is likely to be a boon to the $500,000 Massachusetts Handicap, which will be run on June 1 at Suffolk Downs.

In mapping out the schedules for some of the top handicap horses in the East, horsemen are targeting the Mass Cap as their next major goal. They are just wondering the best way to get their horses there.

Among those being pointed to the Mass Cap are , Mongoose, Include, and Evening Attire.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Supah Blitz was bred to be a stakes winner. His sire, Mecke, was a two-time Grade 1 stakes winner of more than $2.4 million while his dam, Boots 'n Jackie, won the My Dear Girl and Golden Rod Stakes and finished third in the 1992 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies.

So it would come as no surprise if Supah Blitz became the first 2-year-old stakes winner in the country this year with a victory over seven other juveniles in Friday's $75,000 Valid Appeal Stakes at Gulfstream Park.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Miss Noire, third in the Sovereign Award voting for champion 2-year-old filly last year, will begin her 3-year-old campaign against older fillies and mares in Friday's Woodbine feature for $80,000 optional claimers.

ARCADIA, Calif. - There are questions surrounding the form of the three leading contenders in Friday's $100,000 Valiant Pete Handicap at Santa Anita - Echo Eddie, Full Moon Madness, and Men's Exclusive.

Echo Eddie and Men's Exclusive were second and fourth, respectively, in the $2 million Golden Shaheen Stakes in Dubai on March 23 and return 27 days later. Typically, horses that race in Dubai are given longer rest periods before resuming racing.

AUBURN, Wash. - Emerald Downs will open its 2002 season on Friday with a nine-race card headed by the $25,000 Ropersandwranglers Stakes for older filly and mare sprinters.

Friday's program, which begins with the regular weekday first post time of 6 p.m., will be the first of 91 days of live racing at a meeting that will stretch through Sept. 16. First post for weekend cards will be 1 p.m., and the gates will open 30 minutes before the first simulcast race each day.

CALGARY, Alberta - T J Quigley, winner of his first two outings here at Stampede Park last spring, heads a field of nine older runners in Friday's seventh race.

An 8-year-old gelding, T J Quigley also registered an upset over Timely Ruckus in the 1999 Stampede Park Sprint Championship and has a class edge in this six-furlong dash for $15,000 claimers.

LEXINGTON, Ky. - A lot of water has passed under the bridge since Pat Byrne last won the Lexington Stakes. It was in 1996 that Byrne, after 10 years of training in relative obscurity, first began making national headlines when City by Night won the Lexington.