HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Hook and Ladder, who has been invincible at Gulfstream Park over the past two winters, will put his unblemished local mark on the line Saturday when he seeks to defend his title in the $200,000 Gulfstream Park Breeders' Cup Sprint Championship.

Despite the presence of Hook and Ladder, who has won all four of his starts at this track, a field of nine was drawn for the seven-furlong race. Heading the competition will be Burning Roma, who will run for the first time since coming to trainer Bill Mott's barn, and Fappie's Notebook.

NEW ORLEANS - certainly doesn't have a respect problem in New Orleans. Her 8 1/2-length win three weeks ago at Fair Grounds in the Silverbulletday Stakes left an indelible impression on the trainers of horses who, somewhat reluctantly, return Saturday to challenge her in the Fair Grounds Oaks.

"I put her in there with the top three or four fillies anywhere," said Neil Howard.

"Awesome," said Niall O'Callaghan.

"I can tell you that I don't have anything to go out and run 1:42," said Steve Asmussen.

ALBANY, Calif. - Northern California's leading trainer, Jerry Hollendorfer, knows Saturday's running of the at Golden Gate Fields will tell him a lot about the three colts he has entered.

Hollendorfer will run Lawn Mower and Cappuchino as an entry and Yougottawanna as a separate interest.

"Prep races like this are to tell you what you have," Hollendorfer said. "You need to run well to go on to the next level. I want them all to run well."

Hollendorfer's three will have eight rivals in the $200,000 Grade 3 race at 1 1/16 miles.

ARCADIA, Calif. - Bosque Redondo did not come close to Reba's Gold in a classified allowance race one month ago, but there are reasons to believe the outcome might be different Saturday at Santa Anita in the $75,000 Tokyo City Handicap.

The Virginia House of Delegates rejected by one vote Wednesday a bill that would have permitted the Virginia Racing Commission to regulate telephone and Internet account wagering.

The measure, which was voted down 47-46, would have licensed out-of-state account wagering companies that accept bets from Virginia residents on horse races.

Robin Traywick Williams, the commission's chairman, said an estimated $15 million is bet annually by Virginians with companies that are not regulated by the commission.

Frank Stronach's Magna Entertainment has reached an agreement to purchase Lone Star Park near Dallas for

$100 million. The deal, which is subject to regulatory approval, is scheduled to close in the second quarter of 2002.

Lone Star opens for its fifth season of racing on April 4, and will be the 11th racetrack owned by Magna, which also owns Santa Anita and Gulfstream Park. Lone Star has been awarded the 2005 World Thoroughbred Championships.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - The prospective field for next Saturday's $1 million, Grade 1 Florida Derby stood at eight or nine horses on Thursday, following the defections of Grey Beard and Political Attack and the possible addition of Puck, who comes off a second-place finish behind Nokoma in an allowance two weeks ago.

NEW ORLEANS - Repent and Take Charge Lady, the Ken McPeek-trained runners who will be heavily favored in Fair Grounds's weekend stakes, arrived safely here on Thursday afternoon after a flight from Florida.

Repent will head the field in Sunday's $750,000 Louisiana Derby for 3-year-olds. Take Charge Lady, an odds-on favorite on the track's morning line, was among eight 3-year-old fillies entered Thursday in Saturday's $350,000 Fair Grounds Oaks. Also on the flight from Florida were Charioteer and White Flame, both of whom will face Repent on Sunday.

NEW ORLEANS - If it isn't enough that he organizes their exercise regimens, worries about their eating habits, and plots out their racing careers, Ken McPeek found them, too.

McPeek selected for purchase as yearlings, as he did with many horses he trains. Both came out of the 2000 Fasig-Tipton Kentucky July yearling sale, and both cost a bundle by McPeek's past standards: Take Charge Lady $175,000, Repent $230,000.

Those prices are starting to look like blue-light specials as both horses rise to the top of their classes.

JAMAICA, N.Y. - Ground Storm will find himself in a familiar position Saturday when he goes off as the favorite in Saturday's $100,000, Grade 3 Stymie Handicap at Aqueduct. His connections and his backers are hoping for anything but a familiar result.

In his 19-race career, Ground Storm has been sent off the favorite in four stakes and has lost every time. Overall, Ground Storm, a 6-year-old son of Summer Squall, is 0 for 6 in stakes races. Why should Saturday be different?