ARCADIA, Calif. - The Grade 2 Norfolk Stakes has not been particularly kind to chalk - six of the last nine odds-on favorites have lost the 2-year-old stakes, which will be run Saturday at Santa Anita.

The trend will be tested next with the Norfolk's short-priced favorite, Came Home, whose Grade 1 Hopeful victory upped his record to 3 for 3. The same attributes that got Came Home this far, however, - speed and precocity - serve as potential impediments when he runs a mile for the first time Saturday. Regular rider Chris McCarron recognizes the challenge.

ARCADIA, Calif. - Tribal Rule, an impressive winner of two sprints at Del Mar, has returned to training at Santa Anita after veterinarians were unable to detect a previously diagnosed shoulder injury.

But a two-week absence from serious training is likely to keep the 5-year-old Tribal Rule, who has never started in a stakes, from an attempt at the Breeders' Cup Sprint, which owners Marty and Pam Wygod had for a goal this fall.

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. - In the end, the issue might boil down to cold cash. At $150,000, the purse for the Arlington-Washington Futurity isn't big enough to entice the nation's top 2-year-olds. And since Chicago's 2-year-old colony this season has been decidedly soft, the Grade 2 Futurity will be run for the 67th time on Saturday at Arlington with a somewhat ordinary field of seven.

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. - A couple of months ago, when things were at their darkest in the Harvey Vanier barn, Wednesday's sixth race would have had a different outcome. No Dice would have battled along the rail in the $18,000 claiming race, narrowly edging the pair of horses to his outside - then he would have been disqualified for coming out inside the sixteenth pole and interfering with his opponents.

But Wednesday, after a long inquiry, the Arlington stewards made a tough call and left No Dice's number up, giving the resurgent Vanier barn another win here.

Two days into the Oak Tree meeting at Santa Anita, the pick six has yet to be conquered, creating a carryover of $364,237 for Friday's program.

On Thursday, three favorites were successful in the pick six races, but three longshots, including upsets in the last two races, made the bet impossible to hit.

Beginning with the third race, the winners of the pick six races on Thursday were: Excessively Lucky ($7.20), Blue Moon ($5.60), Moossa's Girl ($16.60), Thundering West ($6.60), Impressive Grades ($58) and Bryanzole' ($14.60).

EAST BOSTON, Mass. - Suffolk Downs begins a 150-day meet Saturday, the ninth meet held by Sterling Suffolk Ltd., a group that bought and reopened the track in 1992.

Racing will take place five days a week, with Thursdays and Sundays dark, through Dec. 22, when the live racing program takes a nine-day break. Racing will resume on Jan. 1, 2002. Post time is 12:45 p.m. daily. There will be nine races on Saturdays and eight the other days.

Who's the fastest filly in the country? Based on Beyer Figures, it's Xtra Heat.

The only question remaining to be answered is whether the 3-year-old Xtra Heat is fast enough to beat older males.

Xtra Heat, unbeaten in nine career starts at six furlongs and winner of 15 stakes at nine different tracks, preps for a possible start in next month's Breeders' Cup Sprint in Saturday's Sweet and Sassy Stakes at Delaware Park.

When Caller One didn't enter Saturday's $75,000 Marfa Stakes at Turfway Park - a prospect that had been seriously considered until early this week - the chances for victory suddenly brightened for several other horses in the field.Foremost among them are Sea of Tranquility and Dash for Daylight.

Last year, Sea of Tranquility won the Marfa, and trainer Richard Paulus was unwilling to concede the title simply because it looked as if Caller One might run. Having dodged that bullet, Sea of Tranquility figures as a major threat as the 122-pound highweight in the 6 1/2-furlong Marfa.

Tricky Storm, a nine-length stakes winner in his last start, is the logical pick Saturday in the $40,000-added Sport of Kings Futurity at Louisiana Downs. But it could be his entrymate Proud and Steady who ends up stealing the show in the 6 1/2-furlong race for 2-year-olds.

"I like both their shots, but I think Proud and Steady might surprise us all," said Cole Norman, who trains the two colts for Dr. K.K. and Vilasini Jayaraman.

ANDERSON, Ind. - Wabash Sue tries to regain her form in Saturday's $40,000 Madison County Stakes for Indiana-bred or -sired fillies and mares at six furlongs.

The Madison County kicks off a schedule of 26 stakes races to be offered at Hoosier Park through the 70-day meet.

Trained by Ray Stifano, Wabash Sue has yet to find her 2000 form, when she won three races and earned more than $76,000. She is 0 for 3 this year, with starts in allowance and high-priced claiming company at Tampa Bay and Prairie Meadows.