MIAMI - Trainer Christophe Clement said Naissance Royale was not fit when she finished fourth behind Dream Lady in Monmouth Park's Omnibus Stakes earlier this fall. But the Grade 1-placed Naissance Royale won't have any excuses when the pair cross paths again on Saturday in Calder's Grade 3 My Charmer Handicap.

The My Charmer is one of three $100,000 stakes on the undercard of Saturday's

Grand Slam I program. Two-year-olds will also be in the spotlight - colts and geldings in the What a Pleasure Stakes and fillies in the Three Ring.

PWrenice and Mystery Classic each come into Saturday night's Texas Champions Day program of eight statebred stakes at Sam Houston Race Park on significant rolls. Wrenice has won her last four starts by a sum of more than 34 lengths, and Mystery Classic his last five by more than 25.

NEW ORLEANS - Patriot Act is the likely favorite in Saturday's $75,000 Tenacious Handicap at Fair Grounds, but to win he'll have to track down Tepexpan, the lone speed horse in the 1 1/16-mile race.

Senor Amigo has used his blazing turn of foot to win two major Texas-bred stakes this year, and will be favored to win a third during Saturday night's $475,000 Texas Champions Day program at Sam Houston Race Park.

Senor Amigo looks like the controlling speed in the $100,000 Star of Texas, a 1 1/16-mile race that is the featured race among the eight divisional statebred stakes on the card. The program is the richest of the meet, and other horses of note on the card include Wrenice and Mystery Classic, who are both riding significant win streaks into separate stakes Saturday.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Catch the Thrill failed to make it into the field for the Nov. 4 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies at Churchill, much to the dismay of trainer Mark Frostad. She will start Saturday at Woodbine in the $150,000 Ontario Lassie Stakes, her first race since her dazzling victory in the Oct. 21 Princess Elizabeth Stakes.

Catch the Thrill, a well-bred daughter of A.P. Indy, graduated in August in her second start, which came on the grass. She then finished seventh in the Grade 3 Natalma Stakes Sept. 10, and Frostad said she had several excuses.

NEW ORLEANS - One of the most impressive performances of opening week came from the 2-year-old filly Total, who looked like she could be any kind with an impressive victory in an entry-level allowance race Nov. 26.

Jockey Jesse Campbell allowed Total to relax early as she tracked a rapid pace sent by Eccentric Girl. Total went by easily on the turn with long, ground-gobbling strides, then drew away from the field and was eased near the wire in the 5 1/2-furlong sprint as the graded-stakes-placed Expertise chased her home.

CHICAGO - If, as the standard thinking goes, field size fuels betting, Hawthorne Race Course might handle $1 billion on Saturday.

With racing canceled because of weather on Thursday, Hawthorne's entry box for Saturday's card overflowed, even with the track tacking on an extra 10th race because of the Thursday cancellation. There were 114 horses entered, an extraordinary average of 11.4 per race, and the past performances seem to run on forever.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Declan's Moon and Siren Lure will arrive at the starting gate for Saturday's $100,000 Vernon Underwood Stakes at Hollywood Park in need of a victory.

At times over the last two years, Declan's Moon and Siren Lure have been at or near the top of the racing world, but each is coming off a disappointing race that has dented his reputation.

Their respective trainers - Ron Ellis and Art Sherman - insist they have not lost faith and are hoping to use the Grade 3 Underwood Stakes over six furlongs as a prep race for a successful 2007 campaign.

Highly proven entities have dominated the filly and mare sprint ranks since Turfway Park switched over to Polytrack at the 2005 fall meet.

Hot Storm, an earner of nearly $800,000, won three stakes in a row - the 2005 Weekend Delight, 2005 Holiday Inaugural, and 2006 Wishing Well. Very Vegas, who earned nearly $500,000 before retiring last month, won the Queen Stakes last March, and Malibu Mint, a Grade 1 winner, took the Weekend Delight last September.

Trainer John Buchanan saddled four of the five fastest qualifiers for the Grade 1, $1,053,912 Texas Classic Futurity at Lone Star Park, to be run on Saturday night, but his fastest qualifier, Ivory James, will instead race in the Southwest Juvenile Championship at Zia Park on Sunday.

The Buchanan qualifiers set to run in the Texas Classic are Dont Let Down, Riddick, and City Class.