ELMONT, N.Y. - Last spring, Shug McGaughey was one of the top percentage trainers at the Belmont meet, winning at 31 percent - 16 wins from 51 starts. This spring, McGaughey is a hard-to-fathom 0 for 20 after the first four weeks.

"I just don't have much," said McGaughey, whose last New York winner came on May 5 at Aqueduct.

McGaughey hopes to end his drought Wednesday when he sends out Carafe in a second-level allowance race at Belmont Park. Wednesday's card, which starts Belmont Stakes week, features a pick-six carryover of $41,799.

ELMONT, N.Y. - The Triple Crown grind is supposed to take its toll on the 3-year-olds who are asked to race three times in three states at three different distances in five weeks. But the main contenders for Saturday's 133rd Belmont Stakes at Belmont Park are working as though they are saving their best for the last leg of the Triple Crown.

Quidnaskra appears to be improving with age.

Quidnaskra, a 6-year-old mare trained by Mary Eppler and owned by Herbert Hogg and William Wise, registered her third straight victory and first stakes triumph by capturing Monday's $75,900 Rosenna Stakes at Delaware Park.

Sent off as the fourth choice in a field of eight fillies and mares, Quidnaskra ($11.20) won by a length and covered 1 1/16 miles of firm turf in 1:44.21.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - A 2-year-old filly racing under the name Mighty Pioneer made three starts at Woodbine last October, recording a third-place finish and earning $4,994. But after a hearing last Thursday, stewards concluded it was another 2-year-old filly, named Bailing Twine, who actually raced under Mighty Pioneer's name and pedigree.

Both fillies are chestnuts and were purchased on behalf of local owner-trainer Mike Wright at the 1999 Fasig-Tipton Kentucky October sale. Mighty Pioneer was purchased for $10,500, Bailing Twine for $13,000.

STICKNEY, Ill. - Jockeys guilty of riding infractions on the Chicago circuit now have the option of paying a fine rather than accepting a suspension from the stewards. The new rule assigns a fine to each penalty, for instance $1,500 for a 3-day riding suspension or $2,500 for a five-day suspension.

The practice has already been put into use at other Illinois racing jurisdictions, including Fairmount Park, a Thoroughbred track.

OCEANPORT, N.J. - Silver Tornado has the breeding and the skill to be a graded stakes winner. Now, the 3-year-old filly trained by Linda Rice can use Wednesday's featured $39,000 six-furlong allowance as a stepping-stone for what could be a successful 3-year-old year.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. - A surplus of class and a lack of current form distinguishes Wednesday's $75,000 Ack Ack Stakes at Hollywood Park, where graded stakes winners Early Pioneer and Big Ten return from extended layoffs against razor-sharp Elaborate.

Beyond inactivity, Hollywood Gold Cup winner Early Pioneer and Californian winner Big Ten are further compromised by distance. At 7 1/2 furlongs, the one-turn Ack Ack falls somewhere between a sprint and a route, and favors Elaborate, a top-class sprinter who embodies every quality his rivals lack, not the least of which is recency.

ELMONT, N.Y. - Whata Brainstorm, winner of the Grade 2 Pan American Handicap in March, sustained a small fracture of the sesamoid bone in his left hind leg and will be out the remainder of the year, trainer Jimmy Picou said.

Whata Brainstorm, who was being pointed to Saturday's Grade 1 Manhattan Handicap on the Belmont Stakes undercard, was scheduled for surgery Tuesday at the Equine Clinic Sterling Brook in Pittstown, N.J. Dr. Dennis Milne was to perform the surgery.

"``It's a good spot to have it,'' Picou said. "``It's a favorable break.''

SAN MATEO, Calif. - Brite Girl, a recent $40,000 claim by trainer Brian Koriner, posted a convincing length victory in the $56,075 Sunnyvale Handicap for fillies and mares at Bay Meadows.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Only to You finished a nose back of Heliotrope in the 2000 Nassau Stakes, but the tables were turned in this year's running of the Grade 3 event at Woodbine, when Only to You gunned down Heliotrope in deep stretch to record her first stakes win.

Favored Heliotrope set slow fractions over the soft going in the 1 1/16-mile turf stakes for fillies and mares. Only to You raced four lengths off the lead on the backstretch, and began to mount a five-wide rally at the top of the stretch.