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fumed. “Who does he think he is?”
    Meanwhile, Lisa was putting two and two together. “Hey, Judy, is he by any chance the reporter who’s been giving Deborah a hard time?”
    “Bingo,” Judy said grimly. “Kent Calhoun. He’s a good enough reporter, but he sure can be unpleasant when he wants to be.”
    “You’re not kidding,” Stevie said. “He and that Kelly Kennemere are a perfect pair though. She was awfully unfriendly, wasn’t she?”
    By this time they had reached the Maskee Farms barn. “Where to next?” Carole asked, trying to put both Kent Calhoun and Kelly Kennemere out of her mind.
    “Next, I think, is dinner,” Judy replied. “I don’t knowabout you, but I’m starving. Let’s find Max and see if he wants to join us for dinner and a mini-tour of Baltimore. As long as we’re here, we might as well see the sights.” She grinned. “I hope you all like seafood.”
    All three girls nodded. But Carole wasn’t really thinking about dinner—she was thinking about everything she’d seen and heard that afternoon. Her last experience at the racetrack had taught her that some of the people there seemed to think more about the money that was at stake than about the horses themselves.
    But now Carole was learning that there were all kinds of traditions and trivia that went along with racing. That meant it really was much more than just a business—didn’t it?
    As she followed her friends toward the parking lot, Carole decided she’d definitely be keeping her eyes and ears open the next day. She had a feeling she had a lot to learn.

“E VEN AFTER ALL that walking, I’m still so full I never want to eat again,” Stevie moaned later that night.
    The three girls were lying on the two large, comfortable beds in the second bedroom of Judy’s spacious hotel suite. Judy had already said good night and gone to bed, but The Saddle Club was too excited by the day’s events to go to sleep yet. They had decided to hold a Saddle Club meeting instead. Lisa was reloading her camera and getting her equipment ready for the next day while the girls talked.
    “I know what you mean,” Carole said. “I knew eating that last crab was a mistake, but it tasted so good, I couldn’t resist.”
    Judy and Max had taken them to Baltimore’s Inner Harbor, a modern complex of shops and restaurants bythe water. The girls had been disappointed that they’d arrived too late to visit the famous aquarium there, but they had found plenty of other things to do, from shopping to people-watching to posing for dozens of Lisa’s pictures. They had bought souvenirs for their families and stuffed themselves with fresh seafood until they could hardly move. And even after their huge meal, Stevie had insisted on ice cream for dessert—pistachio with coconut topping and strawberry sauce. Finally Judy had suggested heading back to the hotel to get some sleep.
    “I can hardly wait for tomorrow,” Stevie said.
    “Me too,” Lisa said, stifling a yawn. “And it’s going to be here soon enough—it’s almost midnight. What time did Judy say we’d be getting up?”
    “I’m not sure,” Carole said. “I just told her to wake us up in time to go over with her in the morning when she checks the horses before their workouts. She said it would be early.”
    F OUR HOURS LATER Lisa felt a hand shaking her shoulder. She groaned and rolled over without opening her eyes.
    The hand didn’t go away. “Come on, Lisa,” said a loud, cheerful voice. “Rise and shine!”
    Lisa slowly opened one eye a crack and peered up into Judy’s smiling face. “What time is it?” she croaked.
    “It’s five minutes to four,” Judy replied.
    “Five to
what
?” Lisa said in disbelief. “Did you say five to
four
? As in four o’clock in the morning?”
    “You got it,” Judy said, reaching over to poke Carole, who was snoring softly in the other half of the bed. “We’re running a little late, so you’d better hurry.”
    “Leave me alone,