"We're there to win," co-owner Ronnie Lamarque said yesterday from New Orleans. "Big Brown is a bear, but we're not going to run in it to run second.

"I'll look at all the other entrants. They don't scare me at all and I believe our horse definitely belongs, and we feel like the Preakness is our kind of race."

Recapturetheglory jogged a mile and then galloped a mile yesterday at Churchill Downs, where Big Brown also is training before leaving for Baltimore next week.

Also headed to the Preakness is Racecar Rhapsody, fourth in the Lexington Stakes. Others whose owners were still considering the race were Harlem Rocker, Riley Tucker and Macho Again.

On the surface. The New York Racing Association is considering replacing dirt with synthetic surfaces at its three tracks, including historic Saratoga Race Course.

The conversion at Saratoga, Belmont and Aqueduct would cost up to $50 million if training tracks at Belmont and Saratoga are included, NYRA spokesman John Lee said.

The possible switch will be discussed this summer by the state Task Force on Retired Race Horses, which is studying the economics of the synthetic surfaces. The forum is scheduled for July 29 in Saratoga Springs during the city's racing season.