Ontrack attendance is up, but handle is down through the first nine days of the Santa Anita winter-spring meeting, track officials said Sunday. Account-wagering handle, up sharply last year, fell by 7 percent.

When a 3-year-old puts together a three-race winning streak and/or registers an impressive speed figure he becomes fodder for Kentucky Derby discussion.

Four non-Thoroughbred stallions in central Kentucky and three in Indiana have tested positive for an equine venereal disease that can cause temporary infertility and abortion in pregnant mares, but regulatory agencies remain cautiously optimistic that the outbreak will be contained.

Typically, it becomes more and more difficult for an allowance horse to win races as they rise through their conditions. That has not been the case with Hurta, who continues to come on strong - just as the Chicago racing season is coming to an end.

Trainer George Weaver thinks Rogue Victory would have won his last start if he hadn't gotten shut off near midstretch. While that opinion might be biased, it also could be well worth heeding when handicapping Wednesday's feature at Gulfstream.

A turn back in distance, a drop in class, and the prospect of a hot early pace makes Legal Consent the horse to beat in a $43,000 first-level allowance for New York-bred 3-year-olds, carded as Wednesday's featured event at Aqueduct.

The Santa Anita stakes festival that featured one or more stakes the first nine days of the season is interrupted Wednesday for a nuts-and-bolts program in which favorites in the two best races are either total standouts or vulnerable bet-againsts.