HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Trainer Bill Mott was looking around late last fall for a potential Kentucky Derby prospect he might purchase for longtime horse owner Jeanne Vance. His search ended when he found Stolen Time, a promising 2-year-old whose resume included a victory over Second of June in Calder's What a Pleasure Stakes and a close third-place finish behind the undefeated Sir Oscar and Wynn Dot Comma in the seven-furlong Jack Price Juvenile Stakes.

Ellis Park's 2004 stakes schedule, released Thursday, closely mirrors last year's schedule, with minor adjustments to four stakes races.

The biggest changes effect two stakes over the meet's closing weekend. The Sept. 4 Dade Park Turf Classic and the Sept. 6 Tri-State Handicap, which had short fields in 2003, were shortened from 1 1/8 miles to 1 1/16 miles, and their purses were increased from $75,000 to $100,000.

Somewhere in the trainer's bible should be a section called, "Diary of a Quarter Crack," the drama that starts in a stakes horse's hoof and bubbles up to the public eye. First comes news of a foot bruise. The bruise becomes an abscess. The abscess pops through the hoof, causing a quarter crack. Then begins the therapeutic shoeing, the patching, the soaking - and most of all, the uncertainty.

PORTLAND, Ore. - Yesss will carries highweight of 123 pounds, including regular rider Twyla Beckner, when he takes on six intrepid challengers in the $10,000 William Kyne Handicap at nine furlongs on Saturday.

Yesss, a 6-year-old son of Abstract who races for Shirley Webb, has won six stakes at Portland Meadows, including the last two runnings of the Kyne. He is coming off a sharp win over Lethal Grande in the six-furlong Oregon Sprint Championship on Oregon-bred Day, Dec. 13.

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - When a minor injury forced Sir Cherokee to withdraw from last year's Kentucky Derby just two days before the race, it was heartbreaking for all connected with the colt. But fast-forward nine months and disappointment has been replaced by optimism.

For Fair Grounds 3-year-olds with Triple Crown aspirations, the season starts in earnest Saturday with the Grade 3, $100,000 Lecomte Stakes. Kind of.

Saintly Look, Easyfromthegitgo, and Sam Lord's Castle won the last three Lecomtes, and you will not find those names etched in Kentucky Derby lore. At one mile, and with a short stretch run, the Lecomte is more a launchpad for horses with Louisiana Derby aspirations than a true Kentucky Derby prep race.

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - There are just two questions surrounding Wildcat Shoes in Saturday's $50,000 Mountain Valley Stakes at Oaklawn Park.

Can he duplicate his last start? And does he need to in order to win the six-furlong sprint for 3-year-olds?

Wildcat Shoes has won his last three starts and should be a strong favorite in the Mountain Valley on the heels of his spectacular win last out in the $60,000 Sugar Bowl at Fair Grounds. He covered six furlongs in 1:09.60, earning a 103 Beyer Speed Figure.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Thunder Blitz, winner of the Grade 3 Queens County Handicap in December, suffered a crack in the sesamoid bone of his left foreleg and will be sidelined indefinitely.

Thunder Blitz left trainer Richard Dutrow Jr.'s Aqueduct barn earlier this week and will be given time off at owner Frank Stronach's Adena Springs South farm in Ocala, Fla. His connections hope they can get him back to the races later this year.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Speed is the name of the game in Saturday's $75,000 Paumonok Handicap at Aqueduct. Harnessing that speed is likely the key to victory in a competitive 96th running of the six-furlong sprint.

, the pacesetting runner-up of the 2002 Gravesend Handicap over this track, head the list of speed signed up for the Paumonok. Toss in Don Six - who has run the fastest six furlongs at this meet - Spooky Mulder, and Sunray Spirit to the mix and the race would appear ripe for a closer.

PHOENIX - Toast for Mr. Expo will dive into the deep end of the pool in Saturday's $40,000 Swift Stakes for 4-year-olds and upward who have started at the Turf Paradise meet. A 5 1/2-furlong event, the Swift Stakes has lured a field of eight, including many of the old guard in the local sprint division.