ALBANY, Calif. - When trainer Steve Specht entered I'madrifter in the Lafayette Handicap on New Year's Day at Golden Gate Fields, he did so only because he thought the race might come off the turf.

His plan worked to perfection. The race came off the grass, and I'madrifter won the $100,000 race over a sloppy track.

Specht has nominated I'madrifter to Saturday's $100,000 Tanforan Handicap, a Grade 3 scheduled for the turf, and this time he hopes the race will stay on the turf.

"If a horse has any ability, I think you should try him on the turf," Specht said.

ARCADIA, Calif. - A five-race winning streak in New York last year has led Summer Colony to California for Saturday's $200,000 La Canada Stakes at Santa Anita.

Since August, when she won a maiden race at Saratoga by an astonishing 32 3/4 lengths, Summer Colony has developed into a potential star for owner-breeder Edward Evans and trainer Mark Hennig.

So far, the highlight has been a win in the Grade 3 Ladies Handicap at Aqueduct on Dec. 22, but a win in the La Canada against a strong field would be a greater accomplishment.

NEW ORLEANS - Lloyd Romero would provide no answer Wednesday to the burning question of who will ride Hallowed Dreams Saturday in the $75,000 Pan Zareta Handicap, but he did have a question of his own.

"Is the race going to go?" Romero wanted to know.

Good question. With only seven nominations, the Pan Zareta was in trouble from the start, and as of Wednesday there were only four probable starters, with little hope of getting a fifth.

Sportsman's Park Race Track has announced it will air a new television program called "Post Time at Sportsman's" during it's upcoming Thoroughbred meet which runs from March 1 through May 4.

The half-hour show, which will be hosted by Daily Herald columnist and handicapper Joe Kristufek, will broadcast every racing day (Friday through Tuesday) at 5:30 (Chicago time) on Fox Sports Net Chicago. This is a departure from the previous Sportsman's Park replay show which aired on a local UHF channel that was not widely available to cable subscribers.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - For a horse with such a blue-blooded pedigree, Traditionally has spent a lot of time on the outside looking in. It took Traditionally, a son of Mr. Prospector and the great mare Personal Ensign, 13 starts just to get through his second allowance condition, and though he won the Grade 1 Oaklawn Handicap shortly thereafter, he has subsequently reverted to his underachieving self, losing four straight races by a combined 48 lengths.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - The handicap ranks in trainer Bill Mott's barn were depleted when he lost stakes winners Mongoose and Ubiquity to trainer James Bond. But reserve troops could be on the way.

This Fleet Is Due, away from the races since August, makes his 4-year-old debut Thursday in a third-level allowance/optional claiming race at Gulfstream Park. He will face five rivals in the 1 1/16-mile race, which is worth $38,000.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Marylou Whitney is tied for leading owner at Gulfstream Park and nobody could be happier about that than her main trainer, Nick Zito.

"For me, it's very rewarding," said Zito, who has saddled six of Whitney's seven winners, tying her with Canadian-based Bruno Schickedanz atop the Gulfstream standings. "Everybody I run into says how happy they are for her. Marylou Whitney is a popular lady. The Whitney colors are beautiful colors; they should be flying high every Saturday."

NEW ORLEANS - Trainer Mike Stidham wasn't in the mood for predictions Tuesday morning. He doesn't know for sure if Miss N Texas will run as well around two turns as she has around one.

But he knows this: He has to try it and find out.

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - Trainer Bob Holthus has come out firing this season at Oaklawn Park. A nine-time training champ here, he has won five races over the first six days of the meet to rank second in the standings, one win behind leader Cole Norman.

Holthus, who has achieved that success with just 12 starters, recorded his biggest victory of the young season last Saturday when Kings Command stormed to a 2 1/4-length win in the $50,000 King Cotton Stakes.

NEW ORLEANS - Having lost Unbridled Elaine, his Breeders' Cup Distaff winner, to injury and retirement, trainer Dallas Stewart would have more to look forward to if Dollar Bill were making his 2002 debut Sunday in the Whirlaway Handicap. But Stewart said Tuesday morning that Dollar Bill, unraced since the Travers Stakes in late August, was not yet in physical shape to race this weekend.