DEL MAR, Calif. - Cagney, a Group 1 winner in South America last year, won his first American stakes in the restricted $83,975 Escondido Handicap at Del Mar on Wednesday.

Ridden by Alex Solis, Cagney ($5.80) split horses in midstretch and won by a half-length, finishing 1 3/8 miles on turf in 2:14.19 before a crowd of 11,014.

The Escondido, restricted to nonwinners of a first-place purse of $50,000 at a mile or over this year, was Cagney's first win since scoring in a Group 1 over a mile on turf in Brazil in June 2000.

DEL MAR, Calif. - At first glance, Nany's Sweep seems misplaced among the probables for Sunday's $300,000 Clement Hirsch Handicap at Del Mar.

A late-running sprinter, Nany's Sweep's best performance this year was a victory in the Grade 1 Santa Monica Handicap over seven furlongs in January at Santa Anita. But a glance into her past makes Nany's Sweep's attempt at the Hirsch, which is run over 1 1/16 miles, more understandable.

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. - Trainer Tom Amoss has said before that training Thoroughbreds is in great part about management: Put your horses in the right spot to win. It seemed that in the Saturday's $60,000-added Misty Isle Stakes, Amoss had picked a perfect spot for La Recherche, who won the $125,000 Lone Star Oaks the last time she raced.

Not so fast. Up-and-comers Twilite Tryst and Kiss the Devil and European import Peace Keeping will make the favored La Recherche work for her money in the Misty Isle, which is for 3-year-old fillies at 1 1/16 miles on turf.

OCEANPORT, N.J. - Quixote's Hope was at the lowest point of her career, running in $5,000 claiming races at Philadelphia Park at the beginning of the year. It was a far cry from her early career success.

But Quixote's Hope has come a long way since January: She is set to run in Sunday's $75,000 Lady's Secret Stakes for fillies and mares at one mile and 70 yards, part of the Haskell Invitational undercard.

Harlan's Holiday, a dominant winner of the Cleveland Kindergarten Stakes last month, will be a strong favorite to win his second consecutive stakes in the $40,000 Hoover at River Downs. The six-furlong Hoover is restricted to Ohio-bred 2-year-olds.

MUSKEGON, MICH - Secret Romeo will put his five-race winning streak on the line when he faces nine rivals in the $50,000 Muskegon Classic Handicap at Great Lakes Downs.

Secret Romeo, one of only two 3-year-olds in the one-mile race, carries second highweight of 113 pounds but is the highweight on scale. Trained by leading conditioner Gerald Bennett, Secret Romeo has won the Dowling and Lansing stakes, the Spartan Handicap, and an allowance race here, plus a stakes race at Sportsman's Park. Last year, he accounted for the Michigan Futurity at Great Lakes.

The $36,000 Bayouland Sales Futurity at five furlongs, the second of Evangeline Downs's three stakes for 2-year-olds, looks to be a classic shootout between the two qualifying trial winners, Courvoisier and Doeny Rain.

Undefeated Hail to Bag, winner of last month's first leg, the D. S. "Shine" Futurity, is not eligible because this race is restricted to horses purchased in the Louisiana Thoroughbred Breeders' Association Sale.

Trainer Randy Mayfield has been pointing Coastalota for the $50,000 Margarita Breeders' Cup at Retama Park near San Antonio ever since she she made her turf debut in June.

Coastalota, a stakes winner on dirt, finished fourth in her first turf start, but made up more than 10 lengths on the field in that June allowance race, and convinced Mayfield she could be a stakes performer on that surface, too.

A Ransom, the defending world champion Quarter Horse, who is undefeated in seven starts since 1999, meets Corona Kool, who is undefeated in three starts since December, in the Grade 1 $134,500 Vessels Maturity at Los Alamitos on Saturday night.

Owned by John and Kathie Bobenrieth, A Ransom was undefeated in five starts last year on his way to the world championship. He raced to Grade 1 wins in the Vessels Maturity, Los Alamitos Championship, and the Champion of Champions.

Casual Feat pulled off one of the bigger upsets of the Churchill spring meet when she won the Grade 3 Regret Stakes at 28-1 on June 16. In Saturday's $50,000 Audubon Oaks at Ellis Park in Henderson, Ky., Casual Feat will not be so overlooked. She is the probable favorite in the one-mile turf race for 3-year-old fillies.