ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Favored Wake at Noon overhauled 18-1 shot Balancethebudget in deep stretch to capture Saturday's $101,800 Briartic Handicap, Woodbine's opening day feature.

Balancethebudget led the way in the five-furlong dash after the expected pacemaker, Olympian, stumbled at the break. Balancethebudget zipped a quarter in a wind-assisted 21.21 seconds, and had clear lead at the eighth pole, but Wake at Noon wore him down and prevailed by three-quarters of a length. Mr. Epperson was third in the five-horse field.

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - Windward Passage scored one for the locals when he overtook 8-5 favorite Ocean Sound in the stretch to win the Grade 3, $100,000 Rebel by a length. It was 3 1/4 lengths back in third to Dusty Spike.

The Rebel is the final local prep for the Grade 2, $500,000 Arkansas Derby on April 13. Steve Asmussen, who trains Windward Passage for Team Valor, also won the first local prep for the Arkansas Derby when he sent out Private Emblem to win the Southwest Stakes on March 2.

Asmussen said Windward Passage will be pointed to the Arkansas Derby.

ARCADIA, Calif. - Stuck in a speed duel with three rivals on the backstretch, jockey Kent Desormeaux decided to press the pace with Roman Dancer in Saturday's $79,275 San Pedro Stakes at Santa Anita.

"We were racing in a straight line across the track," Desormeaux said. "I figured I better clear these and see what happened. When I called on him, he took off."

JAMAICA, N.Y. - Proper Gamble, who won the Dearly Precious in February, won her second straight stakes Saturday in the $108,600, Grade 3 Cicada at Aqueduct.

Proper Gamble, the second choice in the six-horse field of 3-year-old fillies, won the seven-furlong Cicada by 2 3/4 lengths. Short Note finished second, a head in front of 1-2 favorite Forest Heiress in third.

ALBANY, Calif. - Madame Pietra ($7.40) made a strong move on the turn to take command and pulled away down the lane to win the $60,550 Soviet Problem Handicap at Golden Gate Fields on Saturday.

The 5-year-old mare defeated Fancee Bargain by 2.5 lengths, winning the six-furlong race in 1:09.21.

"She did everything (trainer Howard Zucker) said she'd do from loading in the gate to the finish," winning jockey Joey Castro said. "She relaxed down the backstretch. I tapped her at the 5/16ths, and when she started her rally, I just kept her running."

OLDSMAR, Fla. - What does a trainer say when he's sending out winners at a blistering 63 percent?

"Don't tell too many people. We don't want to attract too much attention," trainer Tom Proctor said by phone Saturday morning.

Too late. The cat's out of the bag when it comes to Proctor and the horses of Glen Hill Farm. Through Thursday, Proctor-trained Glen Hill runners had won 14 of 22 starts at the meet, with several of those victories in little doubt from the quarter pole to the wire.

NEW ORLEANS - It's only fitting that Sarah Lane's Oates's racing career should come to an end Monday in the Red Camelia Handicap.

Sarah Lane's Oates won the Red Camelia in 1998, won again the next year, and made it a hat trick in 2000. Last year, she lost by a nose, and Monday she seeks revenge in a race that may as well have her name on it.

Monday's 10-race program also brings to a close the Fair Grounds meet that began on Thanksgiving.

NEW ORLEANS - Neither turf, nor distance, nor a group of males could stop the filly You'llbeinmyheart from staying unbeaten Saturday in the $100,000 Gentilly Handicap. You'llbeinmyheart came from just off the pace and put in a solid stretch run to win the Gentilly by 1 3/4 lengths.

NEW ORLEANS - There have been Grade 1 races around the country this year that looked very much like Grade 2's or Grade 3's. Sunday at Fair Grounds, they're running a Grade 2 that looks like a Grade 1.

The $700,000 Explosive Bid Handicap, the final burst of fireworks at a Fair Grounds meet that ends Monday, has attracted a full gate of 14 horses. They will run nine furlongs over a turf course that has been preserved the last several weeks strictly for use in the Explosive Bid. And they are a strong, strong bunch.

ARCADIA, Calif. - The $75,000 Santa Paula Stakes on Sunday at Santa Anita is not a free pass for Bella Bellucci, one of the nation's top 2-year-old fillies of 2001.

With the Kentucky Oaks on May 3 as her springtime goal, Bella Bellucci makes her 3-year-old debut in the Santa Paula, facing four fillies who are well suited to the distance of 6 1/2 furlongs.