HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - The Florida Derby may not be the only Kentucky Derby prep on Saturday's 13-race program at Gulfstream Park. Not if Ethan Man runs to expectations in the $150,000 Swale Stakes, a seven-furlong dash that drew only five starters and tops the Florida Derby undercard, along with the $100,000 Equalize and One Dreamer handicaps for Florida-breds.

ARCADIA, Calif. - It will be easy to spot the momentum in the San Felipe Stakes on Sunday. The gray 3-year-old U S S Tinosa is the only expected starter entering the Derby prep off a win. And Kent Desormeaux, U S S Tinosa's rider, is currently one of the hottest jockeys at Santa Anita.

ARCADIA, Calif. - Breeders' Cup Sprint winner Squirtle Squirt will be out of action for at least three months to recuperate from athroscopic surgery on his left knee. The surgery is scheduled for this week.

Squirtle Squirt finished second in the Grade 2 Palos Verdes Handicap on Jan. 27, and was training toward the Grade 1 Carter Handicap on April 13 at Aqueduct. Trainer Bobby Frankel said the setback is not considered serious.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - He says he didn't do it on purpose.

Even though it looks as if Smooth Jazz became a last-minute entry in the Florida Derby with the apparent intention of adding considerable pace to the race, that just isn't the case, insists trainer Todd Pletcher.

"They paid a lot of money for this horse," said Pletcher, referring to the recent private purchase of Smooth Jazz by owner Michael Tabor and his advisers. "They wouldn't just use him like that, because they think so highly of him."

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Under normal circumstances Yvonne Azeff would be leading Booklet into the paddock for Saturday's $1 million Florida Derby and perhaps posing with him in the winner's circle. That's what she did after Booklet captured the Holy Bull Stakes earlier this winter and after Monarchos's victories last year in both the Florida and Kentucky derbies.

JAMAICA, N.Y. - Shug McGaughey acknowledges he is getting a later-than-planned start down the Kentucky Derby trail with his top 3-year-old Saarland, who will make his seasonal debut in Sunday's $200,000 Gotham at Aqueduct.

But, as McGaughey has watched the Kentucky Derby prep season unfold, he doesn't feel has a lot of catching up to do in order to become a legitimate Derby contender.

NEW ORLEANS - Hallowed Dreams was not entered Thursday in Saturday's Victoria Lass Handicap, a race in which she was expected to start as a heavy favorite.

Hallowed Dreams was considered a likely starter in the Victoria Lass as late as Wednesday, but trainer and co-owner Lloyd Romero told Fair Grounds officials Thursday morning that Hallowed Dreams had come up with a touch of colic. Romero, who could not be reached for comment Thursday, said Hallowed Dreams will recover, but will not race this weekend.

ALBANY, Calif. - There are four reasons why trainer Nick Canani decided to run Devine Wind in Saturday's Grade 3, $200,000 Golden Gate Breeders' Cup Handicap.

With only four other horses entered in the 1 1/8-mile turf race at Golden Gate Fields, Canani decided it was worth a shot.

"The size of the field led to it," he said of the decision to run. "My horse is really doing well right now. He's training well and bounced out of his last race good. Whenever you get a chance to run for that kind of money, you look at it closely."

Hattiesburg, one of the top 3-year-old filly sprinters in the Midwest last year, will be a strong favorite to build on her success in Saturday's $100,000 Cicero Handicap for fillies and mares at Sportsman's Park.

Hattiesburg, the highweight in the six-furlong stakes at 118 pounds, is the only graded stakes winner in the eight-horse field. Last July 14, Hattiesburg rallied from 10th to win Calder's Grade 3 Azalea at six furlongs by a half-length. Before her win in the Azalea, Hattiesburg won stakes at Prairie Meadows, Lone Star, and Arlington.

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - Trainer Donnie Von Hemel, who will send out millionaire Mr Ross in the Grade 3, $100,000 Razorback Handicap at Oaklawn Park on Saturday, has insight into the family of the race's probable favorite, Crafty Shaw.

Von Hemel trained Crafty Shaw's half-sister Her She Kisses until she was sold as a 4-year-old. A multiple stakes winner, Her She Kisses has earned $270,595.