ARCADIA, Calif. - Each of the seven 3-year-olds in Wednesday's fifth race at Santa Anita has beaten only maidens. But in three months, a few of them could be at Churchill Downs, preparing for the Kentucky Derby.

Run over a mile, Wednesday's optional claimer could produce contenders for the Santa Anita Derby and the Triple Crown.

Azillion, Puerto Banus, Raven Power, and True Monarch face winners for the first time. Cable Ready, Gold Dollar, and Pelirrojo were each well beaten in their last starts.

ARCADIA, Calif. - Snow Ridge spoiled the comeback of Squirtle Squirt in Sunday's $150,000 Palos Verdes Handicap over a wet track at Santa Anita.

Squirtle Squirt, the 2001 Breeders' Cup Sprint winner, dueled with Snow Ridge for the first half-mile but was no threat through the stretch, losing by four lengths.

Steady rain after lunch left the track wet-fast. Snow Ridge finished six furlongs in 1:07.70, just missing Sunny Blossom's 1989 track and stakes record of 1:07.20 when races were timed in fifths.

NEW ORLEANS - The question was whether Lake Lady could excel in a route race. Her answer was yes.

Making her first two-turn start in Sunday's $100,000 Tiffany Lass Stakes, Lake Lady continued her transformation from speedy sprinter to relaxed router, beating Charmed Gift by one and one-quarter lengths with a decisive move late in the one-mile race.

"She makes it looks so easy," said trainer Steve Asmussen.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Jockey Eibar Coa has been suspended 30 days by the Gulfstream Park stewards for what they called "extremely rough riding" during the running of Saturday's $100,000 Ft. Lauderdale Handicap. Coa, who was tied for leading rider at the meet with Pat Day entering Monday's program, said he will appeal the decision.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Take The Cake was never close to A New Twist when the pair met three weeks ago in the Old Hat Stakes. But she had little trouble turning the tables on A New Twist in the rematch, rallying to a convincing three and one quarter length victory over the 2-5 favorite in Sunday's $100,000 Forward Gal Stakes.

ARCADIA, Calif. - There is no debate regarding the top-ranked female sprinter in California.

Kalookan Queen took care of that argument in Saturday's $200,000 * at Santa Anita.

Scoring her fourth stakes win in the last six months, Kalookan Queen ($4) outfinished 19-1 longshot Leading Light by a half-length to record her first win in a Grade 1. Spain, a finalist for the Eclipse Award as the nation's outstanding older female of 2001, finished third, and was followed by Favorite Funtime for Warren's Whistle.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Del Mar Show overcame a seven-month layoff and a nightmarish trip to run down North East Bound for a well-deserved neck victory in Saturday's $100,000 Ft. Lauderdale Handicap.

NEW ORLEANS - The tail end of the Fair Grounds Monday program challenges all sorts of handicapping strategies. Try to find a developing young grass filly in the eighth; sort through a full field of mid-level turf allowance horses in the ninth; and get out your pedigree books and training race notes for the nightcap, a good-looking maiden sprint for 3-year-olds.

A mix-up involving two bay 5-year-old mares owned by K.K. Jayaraman and trained by Joe Martin has led to pending action against the horses' connections, according to stewards at Beulah, where Martin is based.

The horses are the maidens Comic Grey and Seventh Wish. Seventh Wish has run six times, although in her last three starts she ran under the name of Comic Grey. Comic Grey is still unraced. Both mares were bred by Jayaraman.

JAMAICA, N.Y. - Jockeys Heberto Castillo Jr. and Roberto Villafan, who were involved in a nasty-looking spill Friday at Aqueduct, were released from the hospital with cuts and bruises.

Castillo suffered a gash on his ear that required more than a dozen stitches and took off his one mount on Saturday. Castillo, who was released from Jamaica Hospital on Saturday morning, said he probably would take off his mounts on Sunday and return to the saddle Wednesday.