Halo

The field for the third running of the revived Pimlico Special divides almost too neatly into two groups of runners.There are three "speed" horses -- Jolie's Halo, Farma Way and Summer Squall.Then there is Silver Survivor, who runs in the middle of the pack, followed by three horses that come from distinctly off the pace -- Unbridled, Festin and Reputed Testamony.In order for the come-from-behind horses to have a good chance to wear down the front-runners, they need a fast pace.Chances are, they aren't going to get it.The riders of these horses are just too smart to fall into that trap.

Summer Squall drew the No. 1 post position for Saturday's Pimlico Special, but Jolie's Halo is still expected to set the pace.That was the scenario most trainers seemed to expect as they envisioned how tomorrow's $750,000 race would be run.CJolie's Halo drew the five-post in the seven-horse field. "My horse doesn't have to have the lead," Happy Alter, the trainer of Jolie's Halo said. "He can also come from off the pace. More or less it's going to be up to the jockeys to decide once the horses break and the race unfolds."

The racing public is looking forward to the rematch of Unbridled and Summer Squall in the $750,000 Pimlico Special Saturday.The horsemen are excited about it as well, with one notable exception -- Neil Howard.Asked if he's looking forward to another meeting with Unbridled, Howard, the trainer of Summer Squall, answered in a flash."No!"Putting 1990 Kentucky Derby winner Unbridled and last year's Preakness champion Summer Squall on the same race track for the first time in a year may be great fun for everybody else, but another race against Unbridled is not exactly Howard's idea of fun.Unbridled, besides beating Summer Squall in the Derby (Summer Squall was second)

When he was young, "and before gourmet food got the best of me," Happy Alter was an amateur boxer. "Just for the sport of it," he said. "Just as a hobby."About 30 years, 80 pounds and millions of words later, Alter is preparing a horse for the fight of his life.Alter, 45, trains Jolie's Halo, a once-beaten colt who is a contender for Saturday's $750,000 Pimlico Special, the fourth race in the American Championship Racing Series.In his most recent start, Jolie's Halo finished third in the April 13 Oaklawn Handicap, his first career defeat in seven starts.

Kentucky Derby winner Strike The Gold arrived at Pimlico today after an overnight van ride from Churchill Downs.The horse was accompanied in the truck by five other horse and his trainer, Nick Zito, who rode with the horse for the entire 10-hour trip."

TC Summer Squall has run only once this year.But the 1990 Preakness winner so impressed track oddsmaker Jeff Weissman with a morning workout yesterday that Weissman probably will make Summer Squall the early-line favorite to beat Unbridled, Jolie's Halo and Farma Way in the Pimlico Special Saturday."

It's a short field, but a stellar one: Seven horses were pre-entered yesterday for the May 11 Pimlico Special.Those remaining eligible for the 1 3/16-mile race are Unbridled, Summer Squall, Jolie's Halo, Farma Way, Festin, Silver Survivor and Reputed Testamony.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- He will never get over it. Never. The humiliation of David Cross was so complete that, eight years later, he still goes to sleep with it every night and awakens with it every morning. That he is back at the Kentucky Derby with a horse makes for a pleasant little comeback, and don't misunderstand, he will settle for it. But to give the story a maudlin cast is inappropriate. He is a bitter man."What I went through, it's just something that stays with you," he said yesterday in front of his barn at Churchill Downs.

They're calling it "The Shootout at the Oaklawn Corral." It's a little campy, but it is fitting for tomorrow's $500,000 Oaklawn Handicap, in which the nation's three hottest older runners will square off for the first time.The Oaklawn Handicap, third race in the American Championship Racing Series, pits Unbridled, Farma Way and Jolie's Halo. Each enters off impressive recent victories.The 1 1/8 -mile race will be simulcast from Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs, Ark., to Pimlico Race Course and the Laurel inter-track facility.