Devout Sinner, who has won three stakes in her last three starts by a combined 10 lengths, returns from a brief layoff in Saturday night's $50,000 Distaff Handicap at Sam Houston Race Park in Houston.

The 1 1/16-mile race for fillies and mares has drawn 11, including Western Side, a Churchill Downs allowance winner making her two-turn debut for trainer Kenny Smith; Cello, who finished fourth in the $75,000 Truly Bound at Fair Grounds last month following a seven month layoff; and Coastalota, winner of the $75,000 Martanza Handicap for statebreds at Sam Houston.

NEW ORLEANS - Dollar Bill* continued his comeback from injury and a layoff, working a half-mile at Fair Grounds on Thursday in what trainer Dallas Stewart termed the colt's most serious breeze yet.

PHOENIX - Reatta Pass comes into Saturday's $30,000 Sun Devil Stakes at Turf Paradise trying to repair a tarnished reputation after successive short-odds losses in the Arizona Breeders Futurity and a subsequent allowance race. And with her bubble somewhat burst, she will face no fewer than nine 3-year-old fillies - two of whom come from the same owner as Reatta Pass, Dennis Weir, and same trainer, Kevin Lewis.

That entry certainly looms the heavy favorite, but more of the appeal may be coming from Kendrick Peak, not Reatta Pass. Either way, the entry looks formidable.

PORTLAND, Ore. - Lovers Son, who upset the heavily favored Tomtom Tommalice when last seen in the Oregon Sprint Championship on Dec. 15, will seek a third straight win when he takes on seven tough allowance rivals in Saturday's six-furlong feature at Portland Meadows.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Unlike other fillies and mares in trainer Mark Hennig's barn, Unrestrained did not distinguish herself at an early age. But if Unrestrained follows her family tree, it could be a big year for this daughter of Unbridled.

Unrestrained is a half-sister to Colonial Minstrel and Minidar, who both became graded stakes winners at age 4. Friday, Unrestrained kicks off her 4-year-old campaign in the ungraded $65,000 Escena Stakes at Gulfstream Park.

JAMAICA, N.Y. - The winter doldrums have arrived at Aqueduct. There's snow in the infield, it's barely daylight when the last race is run, and the feature is a first-level allowance.

Eight older males were entered in the $43,000 eighth race Friday, which will be run at six furlongs over the inner track.

Wonderful Prospect, a beaten favorite at this level on Dec. 27, returns for trainer Richard Lundy, who has won with five of his 13 inner track starters.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Sir Bear, a fixture of the Gulfstream Park handicap division since 1998, launches yet another winter here Saturday in the $100,000 Skip Away Handicap.

* will seek his third Skip Away title, having won the Grade 3 event when it was still called the Broward Handicap in 1998 and 1999. He passed the race last year to successfully launch his 8-year-old campaign by upsetting the Grade 1 Gulfstream Park Handicap later in the meet.

NEW ORLEANS - On Louisiana Champions Day, an eight-month layoff and a fast early pace caught up to L'homme in the final furlong of the Champions Day Turf. Mr. Sulu, the winner, and Bourbon Boogie, the place horse, caught up to him, too. But with the comeback race and two workouts under his belt, there might be no catching L'homme in Fair Grounds's featured race Friday.

ARCADIA, Calif. - FJ's Pace, trainer Doug O'Neill, and jockey Alex Solis have carved out a niche in high-priced claimers for turf sprinters in the last few years.

Since the 7-year-old FJ's Pace joined the O'Neill barn in the summer of 1999, he has won five of 22 starts, four of which came in turf sprints with Solis aboard.

On Friday at Santa Anita, the team will be out to pad its record when FJ's Pace starts as a likely contender in a $54,000 allowance race/optional claimer over about 6 1/2 furlongs on the hillside turf course.

ARCADIA, Calif. - Bienamado, the top turf marathoner in California the last two years, has been retired following the discovery of a suspensory injury last week, trainer Paco Gonzalez said on Wednesday.

Co-owner John Toffan said Bienamado would stand at stud this winter, even though the breeding season starts in a month and no arrangements with a stud farm have been finalized.

"We're looking for a place to stand him," said Toffan, who owns Bienamado with Trudy McCaffery and Robert Sangster. "I want to breed him to a few mares."