INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Texas Glitter's annual trip to California ends Monday with a title defense in the $70,000 Dayjur Handicap at Hollywood Park.

Last year, Texas Glitter made two starts at the Hollywood Park fall meeting, finishing second by a head in the Grade 3 Hollywood Turf Express and winning the Dayjur by a similar margin.

This year, he was fourth in the Hollywood Turf Express on Nov. 23, losing by 1 1/2 lengths to Swept Overboard. On Monday, Texas Glitter is the probable favorite against six others in the Dayjur, run over 5 1/2 furlongs on turf.

NEW ORLEANS - It's tough to win on the lead over the Fair Grounds turf course. It's also tough to beat Tom Amoss at Fair Grounds.

The Amoss-trained La Recherche led all the way and won the $100,000 Pago Hop Handicap* (click here for chart) on Saturday, holding on by a nose to beat Twilite Tryst, who made an amazing dash through the stretch to narrowly miss victory. Stal Quest closed to finish third, another nose back, in a blanket finish.

MIAMI - Take her to the outside and hope she gets up in time. That was the strategy trainer Shug McGaughey laid out for Amelia in Saturday's $100,000 Frances A. Genter Stakes, and his plan worked to perfection as the late-striding filly raced wide off the final turn and ran down the leaders. She outfinished a hedge-hugging Sara's Success by a neck in the 7 1/2-furlong turf race for 3-year-old fillies.

OLDSMAR, Fla. - When horseplayers start handicapping Tampa Bay Downs cards in these opening days of the race meeting, the difference between profit and loss could well boil down to how they treat horses who have been running at Calder Race Course.

History shows that in the first month or so of a meeting, horses coming up from Calder win more than horses who have been racing at any other track.

JAMAICA, N.Y. - Richard Dutrow Jr. has trained for Samantha, Mace, and Jan Siegel for four years but never won a stakes for them. That changed on Saturday at Aqueduct when the Dutrow-trained Here's Zealous won the $107,900 Gravesend Handicap* (click here for chart) for the Siegels.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. - A confident ride from Garrett Gomez put Verruma into the winner's circle of Saturday's $150,000 Dahlia Handicap* (click here for chart), but only after her backers got a thrill watching her weave her way through the Hollywood Park stretch.

Verruma was seventh of eight on the backstretch, and reached contention on the final turn. Gomez had her two-wide entering the stretch and angled to the inside in midstretch, just behind the leaders. Using a quick turn of foot, Verruma rallied to win by a half-length over Vencera.

NEW ORLEANS - The Lecomte Stakes, Fair Grounds's first 3-year-old route stakes race of the meet, picked up a likely starter Friday when Easyfromthegitgo scored a 5 1/2-length win in a mile and 40-yard allowance race here. Easyfromthegitgo's second straight win was impressive enough to encourage trainer Steve Asmussen to point the colt to the Jan. 26 Lecomte.

Easyfromthegitgo launched his career at Saratoga this summer and finished second in his first three races before breaking through with a maiden win Nov. 16 at Churchill Downs.

ALBANY, Calif. - Trainer Greg Gilchrist has one important piece of business to take care of at Golden Gate Fields on Monday before taking a Hawaiian vacation during California's eight-day racing break.

He will saddle recent maiden winner Mt. Rainer in a six-furlong $40,000 optional claimer that is the feature race on the getaway card.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Tranquility Lake, an eight-time stakes winner and one of the top female turf runners in California in recent years, has been retired, owner Marty Wygod said on Saturday.

The 6-year-old Tranquility Lake will be bred to Storm Cat in coming months. A winner of 11 of 27 starts and $1,663,390, she finished ninth in the Breeders' Cup Distaff at Belmont Park on Oct. 27 in her final start.

Tranquility Lake was entered in Saturday's Bayakoa Handicap at Hollywood Park, but was scratched.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. - With Tempera, the winner of the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies, in Dubai for the winter, there is a vacancy at the top among California's 2-year-old fillies.

The victor of Sunday's $365,000 Hollywood Starlet Stakes, led by Grade 1 winners Habibti, Tali'sluckybusride, and You, should fill that hole.

The Starlet is the year's final major stakes for the division. The winner will be looked upon as a top West Coast challenger for the Kentucky Oaks in May, a race on Tempera's schedule.