GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas - Bien Nicole, twice the runner-up in allowance races at Churchill Downs last fall, was an obvious contender when the race was drawn Saturday for Thursday's $30,000 allowance feature at Lone Star Park.

Three days later, her chances improved further. Mike Mareina, trainer of Rosequest, said Tuesday that he had scratched his mare from the race because of a fever. That reduces the field from 10 to nine, and more significantly, eliminates a horse who was likely to test Bien Nicole.

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - One Tuff Fox, who was forced to scratch from last weekend's Grade 2, $500,000 Illinois Derby on the day of the race for having violated an obscure Lasix rule, could be a $25,000 supplement to the Grade 2, $500,000 Arkansas Derby at Oaklawn Park on Saturday.

Trainer Richard Dutrow Jr., on Tuesday was working to make transportation and rider arrangements for the colt. Entries for the 1 1/8-mile race were to be drawn Wednesday.

LEXINGTON, Ky. - If there had been voting last year on the top 10 most explosive performances in a Grade 1 stakes, surely Victory Ride would have made the list for her eye-catching victory in the Test Stakes.

The Test capped a rapid rise to stardom for Victory Ride, a Seeking the Gold filly who was making just the fourth start of her career. Unfortunately for owner Watts Humphrey and trainer Rusty Arnold, Victory Ride suffered a condylar fracture in a workout shortly after that sensational triumph.

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - The "B" team takes the stage Wednesday at Oaklawn Park in the $75,000 Northern Spur Stakes. The one-mile race is usually for 3-year-olds who aren't ready to advance to the Grade 2, $500,000 Arkansas Derby on Saturday, and has drawn a well-matched field of 11.

Guppie's Secret is one of three colts trainer Lynn Whiting has entered in the Northern Spur, but because he is training so sharply, Guppie's Secret will also be entered in the Arkansas Derby on Wednesday.

"He may well be seen in the Arkansas Derby," said Whiting.

ARCADIA, Calif. - When the $1 million Santa Anita Handicap - the showcase race of the winter-spring meeting - was run on March 2, it was heavily criticized for drawing a weak field.

A month later, it turns out that might have been a harsh assessment.

Third-place finisher Kudos won Saturday's Oaklawn Handicap. Sienne, who was ninth, won the Grade 2 Arcadia Handicap on Saturday at Santa Anita, the same day that 10th-place Freedom Crest finished a respectable third in the San Bernardino Handicap.

ALBANY, Calif. - Golden Gate Fields posted a modest increase in ontrack attendance at its recently concluded 101-day meeting, the first time in a decade that a northern California Thoroughbred meet did not experience an attendance decline.

Attendance increased just under one-half of 1 percent, with an average of 2,619 people per day. Offtrack attendance declined by 3 percent to 4,494 per day.

SAN MATEO, Calif. - Wednesday's co-features at Bay Meadows have one common denominator. Hot new apprentice rider Omar Figueroa has a mount in each.

In the first race, a $25,000 claimer at six furlongs, Figueroa will ride Court's In Session for one-time Eclipse Award-winning apprentice Wesley Ward. In the seventh race, a one-mile turf race for maidens, Figueroa will ride Southern California shipper Military Academy for Patrick Gallagher.

JAMAICA, N.Y. - A $38,159 pick six carryover, the first turf race of the season, and a stakes-caliber allowance sprint for fillies and mares highlight Wednesday's nine-race card at Aqueduct.

Should pick six players make it through the first five legs of the bet, many will be relying on trainer Steve Young to have Imadeed ready off a 53-day layoff in the eighth, a classified allowance at six furlongs.

LEXINGTON, Ky. - His initial inclination, said Ken McPeek, is to resist temptation.

Repent was taken off the Kentucky Derby trail Monday because of an ankle chip, but that does not mean McPeek and owner Jerry Bach will decide to run Take Charge Lady in the Derby, even in the euphoria of the filly's extremely impressive victory Saturday in the Ashland Stakes at Keeneland.

"Jerry and I didn't even talk about that," McPeek said Monday afternoon, just hours after Repent's injury was diagnosed. "Obviously, we had some other things to get through."

JAMAICA, N.Y. - When they left New York last fall after finishing first and second in the Grade 2 Remsen Stakes, Saarland and Nokoma were at the top of most handicappers' lists for the 2002 Kentucky Derby.

Four and a half months later, neither has done much to enhance his credentials for the 128th Derby, which will be held May 4 at Churchill Downs.