HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - This is why horseplayers enjoy betting on Gulfstream races. Each of the 10 horses entered in the Friday feature earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 86 or better in at least one of his last two starts, and none of them appears to have a decided edge over the others.

ARCADIA, Calif. - If the Santa Anita Derby were next week, trainer Bob Hess would be in trouble. He admits that his best 3-year-old "has a lot to prove."

It hardly makes the colt, Dwango, unique. After all, it is only January. But the Derby trail starts early nowadays, and Dwango has disappointed once already. If he does it again Friday in a one-other-than allowance, perhaps he is not as good as Hess believed, though the trainer expects Dwango to "run huge."

Trainer Ronny Werner swiped a page from the playbook of Barclay Tagg, who two weekends ago snuck Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner Funny Cide into a Gulfstream Park allowance race. Among six entries for Fair Grounds's six-furlong ninth race Friday is , a 4-year-old trained by Werner who might cross paths with Funny Cide in major handicap races later this season.

PORTLAND, Ore. - Sweet Road will be out to make amends when he takes on five other older sprinters in Friday's best race at Portland Meadows, a 5 1/2-furlong allowance for non-winners of three races.

Sweet Road, a 5-year-old son of Cisco Road who races for trainer Vernon Fergason, disappointed as the 7-5 favorite here under identical conditions on Dec. 27. On that occasion, he dueled for the early advantage with Wings of Hope and yielded late to both Jesse Gee and Les Crime to be beaten just over four lengths in 1:06.15.

PORTLAND, Ore. - Trainer Jimmy Glenn couldn't be present to saddle In Search of Fame for last weekend's Director's Handicap for older Quarter Horses at 350 yards, so breeder Dave Nelson handled the chores. A former owner of In Search of Fame, Nelson sold half of In Search of Fame to his friend Larry Campbell before the horse started, and sold the other half to Campbell in 2000.

"Jimmy says Dave has made two mistakes in racing," said Campbell. "The first was when he sold half of In Search of Fame to me. The second was when he sold me the other half."

Magna Entertainment Corp. has submitted an application to the Michigan Racing Commission to transfer its license for Great Lakes Downs to a company owned by an associate of Magna's chairman, Frank Stronach.

The application was submitted earlier this week, according to R. Robert Geake, Michigan's racing commissioner. The application asks for the racing license to be transferred to Richmond Racing Company, a Delaware corporation owned by Jack Brothers, a former bloodstock adviser for Stronach's Adena Springs Farm.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Nick Zito may hold the most aces in the 3-year-old division this winter, but as far as he's concerned, there is little doubt who the top Kentucky Derby contender is at this point.

"Second of June is the one to beat right now," Zito said at his Gulfstream Park barn Wednesday. "That horse really impressed me in the Holy Bull. He scared me the way he ran the other day. He's a legitimate 3-year-old, and I'm not saying that just because I trained his daddy."

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Scott Lake was a little miffed when the names of the finalists for the 2003 Eclipse Awards were released. Shake You Down, the speedy gelding who won four graded stakes last year for Lake, was not among the three horses named in the sprint division - and even though Lake knows that either Aldebaran or Cajun Beat will probably be named the sprint champion Monday night at the Eclipse dinner in nearby Hollywood, he still was hoping that Shake You Down would be honored as a third finalist.

ARCADIA, Calif. - Trainer Rafael Becerra and owner Stan Fulton will map a spring campaign for Santa Catalina Stakes winner St Averil in coming days, while facing the dilemma of an imperfect Santa Anita stakes schedule for 3-year-olds. St Averil emerged as a leading spring classics candidates by winning for the second time in three starts on Saturday, yet his options are limited.

"One mile is too short, and 20 days is too close," Becerra said, referring to the March 6 San Rafael and March 14 San Felipe.

Fire Slam, one of the favorites for the Lecomte Stakes at Fair Grounds, is battling a quarter crack that could force him to miss Saturday's race.