1.   Rainey, seeking his fourth straight world title, slid off the Santamonica circuit after leading for the first third of a race run in dry, sunny conditions.

2.   Although Millwood was roughed up by St. Louis in a three-run first inning Monday, the starters have breezed through the first third of the spring schedule.

3.   Alston said he hopes that legislation to sell the first third will go through parliament within a couple of months.

4.   And up the first third of the beat, Butterworth was cautious to protect his turf.

5.   At the bottom of the first third of the downhill, it was clear that this fantasy would have to be done in parts.

6.   After sprinting through the first third of the season, the Twins have some concerns.

7.   But its tiny telephone company, like scores of similar firms largely established in the first third of the century by rural Midwestern farmers, has endured.

8.   But through the first third of the year, there were no signs of those inflationary pressures.

9.   But Tomalin runs a risk of losing just about anybody else for at least the first third of this meticulously documented work.

10.   Dillen unfolds these two tales in alternating chapters over the first third of the book.