ETOBICOKE, Ontario - While the raw statistics don't look bad, it's fair to say that trainer Lorne Richards isn't particularly happy with his stable's output this season.

"It's been a pretty lousy year," said Richards, who relocated here from Vancouver in 2001 as the private trainer for K.K. Sangara. "Numbers-wise it looks decent, but those wins were in a lot of cheap races."

Richards was heading into the last two weeks of the meeting with a record of 15 wins and 29 in-the-money finishes from 58 starts, producing percentages comparable to previous seasons.

STICKNEY, Ill. - It's that time of year again. The time of year when Shadowbdancing is ready to race, needs to race, and has no suitable spot in the region where he can race. Trainer Terrel Gore will do what he has to do, even if it means shipping some 1,300 miles.

"I think I'm headed to Zia Park with him," Gore said. "I'll drive him down myself."

Freaky, the nation's leading Quarter Horse, will be a strong favorite in the $750,000 Champion of Champions at Los Alamitos on Dec. 12, and his trainer, Adan Farias, will be quite busy in that race.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. - At this time last year, it would not have been preposterous to think that in 2009 a 3-year-old filly could go undefeated, win a Triple Crown race, and perhaps beat older males. It would, however, have been preposterous to think that filly would be someone other than Stardom Bound.

WHO'S HOT

Julien Leparoux won four races Tuesday to take a narrow lead in the rider standings, giving him 22 winners on the meet to Calvin Borel's 21. Counting all of last week through racing Tuesday, he was 11 for 32 - good for a 34 percent win clip. This big week came despite his missing being at Churchill Downs Saturday, when he was at Hollywood Park riding American Lion to victory in the Hollywood Prevue.

Borel, meanwhile, was 9 for 43 over this stretch of six racing days.

Quality Road will not run in Saturday's Grade 1 Hill 'n' Dale Cigar Mile at Aqueduct, his connections said Wednesday afternoon.

WHO'S HOT

Enrique Arroyo

After going 0 for 11 at Saratoga and 1 for 27 at Belmont's fall meet, Arroyo was 5-1-3 with 19 starters heading into the last week of Aqueduct's fall session: Volos, Captain Sword, Bebob, Elena's Princess, and Chief Export all won claiming races in the $10,000-16,000 range. Chief Export ($8.10) had been legged up in a pair of 1 1/8-mile routes after being reclaimed and was the closest fit date-wise in a restricted claiming sprint Nov. 20.

The Breeders' Cup is wonderful, yes. So, too, are Arlington Million weekend and other holiday weekends. But this weekend is one we give thanks for, and I'm not talking about the gustatory delights.

I'm talking about the major racing in New York, Kentucky, and California, which in many ways gives a cymbal crash to the year, a symbolic ending of the campaign as the next "season" gets under way with the advent of Santa Anita and Gulfstream.

WHO'S HOT

At age 19, jockey Joe Talamo is supposed to be paying his dues while slowly establishing himself as a fixture in Southern California. Scratch that. The sociable and enthusiastic Talamo is arriving way ahead of time, and his five-win day Nov. 22 shot him to second in the standings and reaffirmed his reputation as one of the circuit's top riders.

WHO'S HOT

Eibar Coa

The veteran jockey makes the list again after posting back-to-back hat tricks last Saturday and Sunday to retake the lead in the jockey standings at the Tropical at Calder session. Coa had begun the weekend behind Manoel Cruz and apprentice Luis Saez. Barring injuries to the big three, this one will go down to the wire Jan. 2.

Kathleen O'Connell