MIAMI - Honor Glide may not be quite as good as he once was. But at the age of 7 he may still be good enough to give the up-and-coming turf specialists Mr. Pleasentfar and Deeliteful Irving all they can handle in Saturday's Grade 2, $150,000 W. L. McKnight Handicap.

The 1 1/2-mile McKnight highlights Calder's second annual Grand Slam II program, which also includes three other graded stakes: the Grade 2, $150,000 La Prevoyante Handicap; Grade 3, $100,000 Fred W. Hooper Handicap; and Grade 3, $100,000 Chaposa Springs Handicap.

NEW ORLEANS - It has been 17 months since Rock Slide's memorable career debut at Saratoga. After getting off to a terrible start and dropping nearly 20 lengths behind the early leaders, he made a sustained run on the turn and through the stretch. He passed all but two horses, making up almost 15 lengths and convincing some observers they had just seen a Kentucky Derby prospect.

ALBANY, Calif. - Trainer Jeff Bonde nominated three 2-year-old fillies to Saturday's Corte Madera Stakes at Golden Gate Fields. When it came time to enter in the $55,000-added one-mile race, however, he signed up only Gloriously Golden, an impressive winner in her past two sprints.

Staying in the barn are the undefeated stakes winner Fertile and Excessive Prayer.

Gloriously Golden faces eight rivals, including the entry of Runaway Ab and Past You.

PORTLAND, Ore. - Felipe Valdez, who rode a record-tying seven winners on Sunday, will try to continue his hot-riding when racing resumes at Portland Meadows on Saturday.

Valdez, a 24-year-old native of Mexico City who is riding at Portland Meadows for the first time this season, took over the top spot in the jockey standings with his victory barrage on Sunday. His seven wins tied the mark set by Joe Crispin last year, when he broke the record of six wins held by several riders, including two household names in Gary Stevens and Gary Baze.

ARCADIA, Calif. - Move over, Siphonic. Trainer David Hofmans may have another prospect for the spring classics if Definite Edge runs to expectations Saturday in race 3. A field of seven entered the one-other-than allowance at 1 1/16 miles, and Definite Edge fits perfectly off his his impressive Dec. 13 maiden win.

JAMAICA, N.Y. - The last time Gary Capuano saddled a horse at Aqueduct, he left with the favorite for the Kentucky Derby.

The stakes won't be nearly as high on Saturday, but Capuano is hoping for similar success when he ships Grundlefoot in from Maryland to run in the $100,000, Grade 3 Gallant Fox Handicap over Aqueduct's inner track. Grundlefoot will be the first horse Capuano has run at Aqueduct since Captain Bodgit won the 1997 Wood Memorial before losing a heart-breaking head decision to Silver Charm in the Kentucky Derby.

JAMAICA, N.Y. - In a word, "brutal."

That's how trainer Richard Schosberg describes the last three months for his stable. After losing with both of his starters on Thursday, Schosberg enters the last weekend of the year on an 0-for-43 skid in New York, which he believes is the worst slump of his 13-year training career.

Schosberg's last winner in New York came on Sept. 26 when Bonus Pay Day won a $35,000 claiming race at Belmont. Although Schosberg won two races at The Meadowlands, his frustration is mounting.

MIAMI - Vinnie Blengs won his first La Prevoyante Handicap in 1981 with Judgable Gypsy. Twenty years later, he stands a pretty good chance to take another when he sends out 116-pound highweight Queue in Calder's $150,000 1 1/2-mile test of endurance for fillies and mares.

The La Prevoyante was run at only nine furlongs when Judgable Gypsy rallied to win the opening division in 1981. The race was lengthened to its current distance two years later, and neither Blengs nor Queue will mind the added ground of the Grade 2 race.

MIAMI - Three years ago, Best of the Rest came into the Fred W. Hooper Handicap as the odds-on favorite off a pair of impressive stakes victories, only to chip a knee while finishing a disappointing third in a race that was to serve as his final prep for the Grade 1 Donn Handicap.

The story will be eerily similar, but hopefully with a happier ending, when Best of the Rest returns to Calder on Saturday as the highweight and overwhelming favorite in this year's edition of the Grade 3, 1 1/8-mile Hooper.

MIAMI - Trainer Eddie Plesa Jr. feels lucky when Best of the Rest is healthy enough to make it to a race. His colleague, Marty Wolfson, feels lucky merely to have Mr. Pleasentfar in his barn.

On Saturday, Plesa and Wolfson hope their luck lasts, because among all the local horses, Best of the Rest and Mr. Pleasentfar appear to have the best chance of winning a race on Calder's second annual Grand Slam II program.