Your Excellence set to make amends

WINNIPEG, Manitoba - Your Excellence, a beaten favorite three times this season, faces his easiest test of the year in Friday's restricted $20,000 North Dakota Stallion Stakes for 3-year-olds at 1 1/16 miles.

Your Excellence has raced five times this year, facing first-level allowance company in his first three starts. After running third as the favorite in his first start of the year, Your Excellence finished second behind Prime Time T.V. as the second choice. He finished fourth as the favorite in his third start of the year on June 10.

Your Excellence was then sent off as the favorite in the restricted Manitoba Stakes, where he finished third, before a fifth-place finish at long odds in a second-level allowance race in his most recent start July 16.

Your Excellence won 3 of 5 starts last year, two of which came in restricted stakes. The Emile Corbel-trained gelding will be reunited with jockey Vince Guerra, who was aboard Your Excellence for all five starts last year.

Northrnimprovement won the restricted North Dakota Derby in his last start here July 3. Trained by Chad Torevell, Northrnimprovement has faced Your Excellence twice this season, finishing 5 1/2 lengths behind him in their first meeting on May 7 and bettering him by three-quarters of a length on June 10.

Illalwaysbethere comes off his initial win, over maiden claimers, on July 16.

Peacefull Sammy finished

third, eight lengths back of Northrnimprovement, in the North Dakota Derby two starts ago. He then finished second, 7 1/4 lengths behind Illalwaysbethere, in his most recent start.

Le' Montague rounds out the field.

* Sunday's Quarter Horse race for 2-year-old maidens, along with the 11 remaining Quarter Horse races offered in the condition book, were canceled because of a lack of available jockeys.