ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. - Therecomesatiger was supposed to get a litmus test six weeks ago by facing the likes of Remarkable News and Brilliant in a tough renewal of the Firecracker Handicap at Churchill Downs, but it didn't happen. Therecomesatiger had sore feet that forced him to miss a key workout, so the most recent race on his past performances remains an eye-catching victory in the June 2 Opening Verse Handicap at Churchill.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Seven of the 10 starters representing trainer Wally Dollase here through the years have competed in seven-figure races.

Two have been successful, as Jewel Princess captured the Breeders' Cup Distaff in 1996 and Good Journey won the Woodbine Mile in 2002.

On Saturday Dollase has a more modest goal in the $150,000 Duchess with Sans Reward, who is shipping in from Saratoga for the seven-furlong race for 3-year-old fillies.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - With Mike Fox heading to the farm for a month and Seductively returning from a summer vacation, trainer Ian Black will be looking to his bench to make some noise in stakes races.

Black will call upon Lyrically and Prophetically, who will be making their stakes debuts in Saturday's seven-furlong, $150,000 Duchess here at Woodbine.

"At this point, this is probably a good distance for them," said Black. "This will be their last opportunity for quite a while to sprint in a 3-year-old filly stakes."

DEL MAR, Calif. - The $1 million Pacific Classic on Aug. 19 will have a large field, but two recent stakes winners on turf who were being considered for the race - Becrux and Runaway Dancer - will not run.

Becrux, the winner of the Wickerr Handicap on July 27, will be pointed for the $400,000 Del Mar Mile on turf on Aug. 19, trainer Neil Drysdale said.

"We're leaning toward running him in the Mile," Drysdale said. "I think we're taking a conservative approach and will keep him on the grass."

Cold Trial heads a field of nine Ohio-bred 2-year-olds, including a three-horse entry trained by Tim Hamm, in the $50,000 Cleveland Kindergarten Stakes at Thistledown Friday.

Cold Trial, a son of Changeintheweather, is the strongest part of the entry. He has not been beaten in three career starts but was disqualified from a first-place finish and placed third in his debut at Mountaineer Park. In his last start, he rallied from just off the pace to post a two-length win in the 5 1/2-furlong Hoover Stakes at River Downs. Regular rider Luis Martinez will be aboard at 118 pounds.

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. - When Gorella surged to an eye-catching victory last year in the Beverly D., she gave her owner, Martin Schwartz, and trainer, Patrick Biancone, their second straight victory in the Arlington Park fixture, following Angara's 2005 triumph.

A local legend passed away last week. Bluegrass Warrior, former holder of three track records at Turfway Park, including one North American record, died at the age of 22. Campaigned by Joanie Cook since his 2-year-old season, Bluegrass Warrior was a true distance horse, setting track records at 1 5/8 miles, 1 3/4 miles and two miles. He was retired in 1998. The "sand and sod" distance series at River Downs is named for him.

One milestone was reached at Prairie Meadows this past week and another is soon to come.

Glenn Corbett, who became Prairie's all-time leading rider in 2004 when he surpassed Cindy Noll-Murph, chalked up his 1,000th local win this past weekend when he was aboard the 2-year-old filly Lauridiani for her maiden victory.

"I get all the glory, but lets face it, there's a lot of other people that have helped me get to this point," Corbett said following the win.

Retired jockey Jeanie Maxwell was on hand Tuesday to renew old acquaintances from her days at Detroit Race Course and Hazel Park. Maxwell rode mostly for her father, the late Pete Maxwell, at the old Michigan courses. Between 1976 and 1989, she won 629 races, including four stakes.

After spending nearly two years out of the saddle, jockey Damon Leeds is back and riding on a regular basis, splitting time in Nebraska and at Prairie Meadows in Iowa.

A native of Argyle, Iowa, Leeds began his riding career on the Kentucky circuit in fall 1989. He has ridden in Ohio, Indiana, West Virginia, and at the now closed Birmingham Race Course in Alabama. He spent some time in Saudi Arabia in 2004, where he won four races.