ARCADIA, Calif. - The last time Tiger Trap and Whoopddoo raced, they weren't "right." There is reason to believe they will be on Thursday, when they return in the two best races on the Santa Anita card.

Tiger Trap was considered Epsom Derby material last spring, but those plans were scrapped when he was foiled in a two-other-than allowance. Tiger Trap returned for a fall campaign that also did not pan out, and trainer Neil Drysdale gave Tiger Trap a winter break. It ends Thursday at Santa Anita.

GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas - This story seems like many in the racing industry, at least at first.

A teenage boy, desperately hoping to become a jockey, can't seem to get the opportunity. Jockey agents question his desire and how long he will stick in the game. So the young man has little choice but to be represented at one point by his father - a dentist - who helps his son get started and pursue his dream.

Twenty-eight years and five Eclipse Awards later, Hall of Fame jockey Jerry Bailey and his father, Dr. James Bailey, can look back at those times and laugh.

GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas - In time, Magna Entertainment Corp. will leave its mark on Lone Star Park, which it agreed to purchase pending regulatory approvals early last month.

In the meantime, the track appears unchanged as it prepares for its sixth year of racing, beginning Thursday night. The barns are rapidly becoming full. The simulcast handle is improving, and management is optimistic its aggressive marketing plans will lead to another banner year for the developing track.

SAN MATEO, Calif. - Trainer Greg Gilchrist does not like to continuously bang his head against a wall.

It may look as if he is doing that with Dienekes, who will meet four rivals in Thursday's feature race at Bay Meadows.

The six-furlong $40,000 optional claimer for 3-year-olds is the rerun of a Feb. 21 race at Golden Gate Fields. All five of Thursday's runners were in the Feb. 21 race, which was won by Vito Corleone.

Dienekes finished fifth that day behind Vito Corleone, Ultimate Hitman, and Golden Peace but ahead of Neversaynevermind.

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - Miss Linda will be making her first start in two months in Saturday's Grade 1, $500,000 Apple Blossom Handicap at Oaklawn Park, but the timing of the race could not be better, said trainer John Kimmel.

JAMAICA, N.Y. - Saarland, preparing for the $750,000 Wood Memorial on April 13, was one of the first workers on Belmont Park's main track, which opened for the season on Tuesday.

, under his regular exercise rider, Adolph "Juice" Krajewski, worked six furlongs in 1:13.23, breezing, over a track that was labeled fast. He covered his first three furlongs in 37.25 seconds and five furlongs in 1:00.82. Saarland galloped out seven furlongs in 1:26.50.

Saarland's trainer, Shug McGaughey, said the work was right on the money.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Two years ago, Jostle was among the elite of her division and widely considered one of the premier fillies and mares in the country. Friday, Jostle takes the first step toward what trainer Elliott Walden hopes will be a return to those glory days when she launches her comeback in the $75,000 Banshee Breeze Handicap at Gulfstream Park.

ALBANY, Calif. - Jerry Hollendorfer is no different than any other trainer. He has Derby dreams.

U S S Tinosa, who runs in Saturday's Santa Anita Derby, could be the colt to turn those dreams into reality for Hollendorfer at last. Although he has had unrivaled success in northern California, Hollendorfer has never had a runner in the Kentucky Derby.

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - Azeri, who shot to the top of her division on the West Coast last month, winning the Grade 1 Santa Margarita for fillies and mares at Santa Anita, will take on the best of the East in the Grade 1, $500,000 Apple Blossom at Oaklawn Park Saturday, when she meets Miss Linda and Fleet Renee.

The 1 1/16-mile race is on the same program as the Grade 1, $500,000 Oaklawn Handicap for the first time. The move is designed to give the Apple Blossom, held last year on a Sunday, a bigger viewing audience and the timing could not be better.

Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore opens for live racing Wednesday with its sights narrowly set on the spring weekend anchored by the May 18 Preakness Stakes, second leg of the Triple Crown.

By a wide margin, Preakness weekend promises to be the highlight of the 54-day meet, which will end on June 16. Thirteen of the track's 28 stakes will be run Preakness weekend, including all eight of its graded stakes.