Racing will return to the New Jersey shore after a trying six months in the state when Monmouth Park opens its gates on Saturday to free grandstand admission, pony rides, and a 12-race card that includes a pair of $50,000 stakes.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. - The more ornery Tranquility Lake becomes around the barn, the more bettors should pay attention to her chances in important races.

"You can see when she's getting good because you can't get in her stall," trainer Julio Canani said. "She'll savage you."

The Canani barn has been on a high alert this week around Tranquility Lake. It could not come at a better time. On Saturday, Tranquility Lake starts as the 124-pound highweight in the $250,000 Gamely Breeders' Cup Handicap at Hollywood Park, a Grade 1 that has drawn an outstanding field of turf females.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Trainer Bill Mott will try to end a long drought at Woodbine Saturday when he runs Del Mar Show in the second division of the $166,650 Connaught Cup Stakes, a 1 1/16-mile turf race.

Mott is winless with his last 11 Woodbine starters, and hasn't won here since Geri captured the 1997 Woodbine Mile. Del Mar Show has won all three of his starts this year, the most recent a one-length victory over Honor Glide in the Grade 2 Hialeah Turf Cup.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Bob Baffert simply knew he would win on Kentucky Derby Day.

And not just because he had Point Given and Congaree in the Derby.

After Love at Noon had a sparkling workout during Derby week, Baffert said he told jockey Gary Stevens, "I know one thing: We won't get shut out Derby Day."

ELMONT, N.Y. - Since being reinstated in 1975, the Peter Pan Stakes has produced at least one Belmont Stakes starter each year with the exception of 1997. During that period, five Belmont winners have come out of the Peter Pan, most recently Lemon Drop Kid in 1999.

Heading into Saturday's 48th renewal of the Peter Pan, it is unclear what, if any, impact the Grade 2, $200,000 race will have on the June 9 Belmont. Elliott Walden, trainer of Meetyouathebrig, and Dean Greenman, trainer of I Love Silver, are the only two horsemen with any designs on the 1 1/2-mile Belmont.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - From his very first start, Rollin With Nolan proved an adventure for owner Ken Ramsey.

Rollin With Nolan won his career debut at the 2000 Gulfstream meet at 24-1. Unfortunately for Ramsey, who seldom has met a mutuel window he didn't like, he neglected to bring much cash to Gulfstream that afternoon. Problems involving an offtrack betting account and his cell phone precluded him from getting down a meaningful wager.

STICKNEY, Ill. - Hawthorne Race Course earlier this week launched an internal investigation probing whether a 6-year-old mare should have been scratched from a race because of physical problems.

The mare, Tender Hearted, finished eighth, beaten 17 lengths, as the 6-5 favorite when she ran in the fourth race here last Sunday, May 20.

The Illinois Racing Board has also begun an investigation into the matter. IRB deputy director Marc Laino said, "We should be done very shortly."

MIAMI - Trainer Joe Waunsch watched in horror earlier this month as Platinum Tiara dropped back almost to last near the midway point of the Kentucky Oaks. He knew then that his dreams of winning the country's most prestigious race for 3-year-old fillies had ended.

Platinum Tiara eventually finished 10th in the Oaks, and now she will embark on the next stage of her career, a turf campaign, which will be renewed Saturday when she takes on older horses in the $150,000 Calder Breeders' Cup Handicap at 1 1/16 miles.

SAN MATEO, Calif. - Going into the final four weeks of the Bay Meadows spring meeting, jockey Jason Lumpkins is poised to pull off possibly one of the greatest upsets in Bay Area sports history: dethroning perennial riding king Russell Baze.

Trailing Baze 20 winners to 5 early in the meeting, Lumpkins caught fire and surged into a six-winner lead, 53-47, through Wednesday's racing. Except for three years when he rode in Southern California, Baze has won every Bay Meadows and Golden Gate riding title since 1981.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Fonz's had trainer David La Croix fooled when he won his debut by four lengths in a maiden race at Hollywood Park on May 12.

"I thought he'd run good, but he was cheating on me in the morning," La Croix said. "I didn't expect him to run that kind of race."

The extent of Fonz's talent, and his physical condition, will be tested in Saturday's $75,000 Willard Proctor Memorial Stakes, the first stakes of the year in Southern California for 2-year-old males.