ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. - There's no doubt that trainer Greg Fox comes from a slightly different position than most horse trainers. Fox spent most of his working life as an equine veterinarian, and it's the rare vet who makes the jump to training. Moreover, Fox - who has been a head trainer three years now - brings an outsider's perspective to the training game.

BOSSIER CITY, La. - There were signs that a sleeping giant may be waking up this past weekend, as trainer Pat Mouton sent out three winners Sunday at Louisiana Downs. Mouton also had a winner on Friday night's Louisiana Legends Night program at Evangeline Downs when Howdy Ho set a track record for five furlongs in the $50,000 Attaway Darbonne Stakes.

"The guys at the barn were getting a little down, a little disappointed the last couple of weeks," Mouton said. "I just told them to hang in there, things will pick back up. Nothing like a three-bagger for morale."

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Tell It as It Is was unlikely to be at the top of anyone's list when it came to assessing the major filly/mare turf players here this season.

But after upsetting the $104,000 Tattling Stakes here June 18, powering to a 3 1/4-length victory under jockey Emma-Jayne Wilson over 1 1/16 miles of yielding going, Tell It as It Is looms as a force to be reckoned with not just in Saturday's Grade 2, $300,000 Dance Smartly, but perhaps farther down the road

MIAMI - Although the Summit of Speed has traditionally been a great event for local fans, it's not been kind to local horsemen, many of whom have become resigned to the fact that most of the big races, and the large purses that accompany them, will be won by out-of-town rivals.

VANCOUVER, British Columbia - Despite another impressive performance by Lady Raj in the $55,317 Vancouver Sun at Hastings last Saturday, trainer Troy Taylor is still convinced that Holy Nova is the best older filly or mare in his barn. Many would disagree.

The Ed Allred homebred My Buddie, highly regarded after winning his only two starts at 2 last year, makes his first start in a year in the trials to the Grade 1 Governor's Cup Derby at Los Alamitos on Friday night.

My Buddie impressed in his first start 13 months ago when he blew apart a maiden field while winning by 4 1/4 lengths in an exceptional 17.30-second time for 350 yards. He backed up that effort in the trials to the Governor's Cup Futurity when he won with an impressive rally in 17.34 seconds. That proved to be the end of his promising juvenile campaign.

OK, let's try this again.

Ellis Park will open its 2008 meet Friday. It's a week later than originally scheduled, but having dodged a potentially fatal bullet, virtually everyone affiliated with the Henderson, Ky., track is simply happy to be back in business.

MIAMI - You wouldn't think a horse on a 22-month losing streak would still be considered one of the elite members of her division, but such is the case with Miraculous Miss, who returns to Calder on Saturday for another shot at the Grade 1 Princess Rooney Handicap for filly and mare sprinters.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. - It took two minutes for Colonel John's reputation to be dented by a sixth-place finish in the Kentucky Derby on May 3. He entered the race as California's best hope, and walked off the track humiliated by runaway winner Big Brown.

Trainer Eoin Harty shrugged off the defeat as best he could, and launched a plan geared toward the second half of the year. He will spend the next four months attempting to prove that Colonel John is better than his Kentucky Derby performance.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Sebastian's Song, who finished 10th here at Woodbine in the June 22 Queen's Plate, breezed five furlongs in 1:00.20 on the training track here Tuesday in preparation for Sunday's $500,000 Prince of Wales at Fort Erie.

The 1 3/16-mile Prince of Wales, which is the second leg of the triple crown for Canadian-bred 3-year-olds, was expected to attract a field of eight or nine as of Tuesday morning, with trainer Jim Bond, who is based at Saratoga, still on the fence regarding whether one or both of his pair of Solitaire and Pewter would participate.