HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Trainer Nick Zito is close to finalizing a schedule for a pair of his Kentucky Derby candidates.

ARCADIA, Calif. - In an effort to stay one day ahead of an expected rainstorm, horsemen at Hollywood Park and Santa Anita worked more than 460 horses on Wednesday.

At Santa Anita, 315 horses worked out, including champions Action This Day and Azeri and the undefeated 3-year-old Lion Heart.

At Hollywood Park, there were 147 recorded workouts, including one by top 4-year-old Ten Most Wanted.

STICKNEY, Ill. - Almost all the snow is gone, and the lake in the Hawthorne Race Course infield has even thawed. Late February in Chicago isn't supposed to be so temperate, although much harsher conditions have never really stopped the hardy horsemen of Illinois from emerging from their winter hibernations.

STICKNEY, Ill. - Conventional wisdom says they are the unlikeliest of allies - two former next-door neighbors and rivals who have meshed into a singular entity that has retained the exclusive rights to Thoroughbred racing on the south side of Chicago.

But talk to either of the principals in the Hawthorne National LLC - a melding of National Jockey Club and Hawthorne into one company - and they will say that things couldn't be going smoother.

STICKNEY, Ill. - In a 30-year racing career that dates to his teenage years in New York, Pat Cuccurullo has pretty much seen it all.

"I've seen a lot of guys come and go," he said.

Including himself.

PORTLAND, Ore. - P'burg and Peptide will head an assembly of 10 veteran performers in Friday's top offering at Portland Meadows, a one-mile race for $2,500 claimers.

The field has a collective age of 72, and they have combined for 50 wins.

P'burg and Peptide finished second and third when they met under the same conditions last time out on Feb. 16. P'burg, a noted stretch-runner, came from 11 lengths back to get within 3 3/4 lengths of the winner, Nate Jr., while Peptide was beaten six lengths after pressing the early pace.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. - A year ago, when Jerry Porcelli, Aqueduct's track superintendent, looked at the main track from his office window he didn't like what he saw. A year later, Porcelli likes the view quite a bit better.

ALBANY, Calif. - Given the depth of talent in his barn, it's not surprising that Jerry Hollendorfer has five of the 10 nominees for Saturday's $55,000 San Carlos Handicap at Golden Gate Fields.

Nominating horses, even if they do not run, is part of the price of doing business for any trainer. In Hollendorfer's case, though, the one-mile San Carlos seems to be a perfect fit for each of his five nominees.

NEW ORLEANS - Two things about Sir Cherokee's form jump off the page. The first happened last spring: a win in the Grade 2 Arkansas Derby at 55-1. The other is Sir Cherokee's work Tuesday at Oaklawn Park, where the colt breezed six furlongs in 1:11.40, faster than many races there.

The breeze came just five days before Sir Cherokee is to start in Sunday's $500,000 New Orleans Handicap, his biggest race since the Arkansas Derby, but trainer Michael Tomlinson said he believes his horse had the necessary backbone to work so swiftly.

NEW ORLEANS - It might be at the wrong distance, perhaps even on the wrong surface, but Friday's featured ninth race is the spot for Gimme an A.

His trainer, Jeff Thornbury, thinks might turn out to be a decent turf route horse. The Friday race is at six furlongs on dirt, but that might not get Gimme an A beat. A late-starting 5-year-old gelding, Gimme an A has made his last four starts on grass, but he was a clear second in his career debut - another dirt sprint - to a nice Kentucky-based horse named Founding Chairman.