ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Trainer Bob Tiller will be holding a strong hand at Woodbine on Friday, when he saddles Neil the Knife and Handsome King in the featured second race, a second-level Ontario-sired allowance.

AUBURN, Wash. - Itstufftobegood returns to Emerald Downs on Friday to head a field of five in the second leg of the Seattles Best Joe Marathon Series. A 1 1/4-mile race, the second leg will be contested under $10,000 starter handicap conditions.

EDMONTON, Alberta - Freud's Cure will seek to remain unbeaten when he makes his second start Friday in the Edmonton Juvenile here at Northlands Park. There will be stakes races here for four straight days, with the juvenile fillies going in the Princess Margaret on Saturday.

Freud's Cure, a New York-bred gelding owned by Waymor Holdings and trained by Rob Chabot, will leave from the outside post, No. 10, with Ron Blinston aboard, and may have trouble finding a favorable position.

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. - Seven horses, including defending champion Fort Prado, were entered Wednesday in the $150,000 Sea O'Erin Breeders' Cup Mile. The field also includes Woodbine-based Le Cinquieme Essai, third last year in the Woodbine Mile; Therecomes-atiger, third last out in the Firecracker Breeders' Cup at Churchill; and Kid Grindstone, winner of consecutive stakes races. Rapid Proof won for a $62,500 claiming tag last time out, while Cougar Cat has not won a turf race since his 2-year-old season in France.

The record purses that Remington Park in Oklahoma City will offer during its Thoroughbred meet, which opens Friday night, have attracted a strong assortment of horses, trainers, and jockeys.

"I would say this is probably the most anticipated meet here maybe since the first meet, but certainly the most anticipated in the last 10 years," said Donnie Von Hemel, the all-time winningest trainer at Remington.

BOSSIER CITY, La. - With Louisiana Downs Champions Day on Aug. 19 rapidly approaching, the last week or so has been the time to think about final preparations for the 12-race megacard - or not.

Our Love, the defending champion in the Matchmaker, looked dominant when he defeated five rivals in an allowance last Sunday, picking up her second win of the meeting. She appears ready to defend her crown for trainer Jeff Trosclair.

Princess Deelite, no worse than second in three career starts - all against male opponents and including a runner-up finish in the $150,000 D.S. "Shine" Young Futurity - finally races exclusively against her own gender in Friday night's filly division of the $100,000 John Franks Memorial Stakes.

will face off against 11 foes in the 5 1/2-furlong race restricted to fillies who passed through the sales ring here last March.

The Minnesota Thoroughbred Association will host its annual yearling auction at Canterbury Park on Saturday in the Ubetcha Bar and Grill at the north end of the grandstand.

Walt Robertson and his associates from the Fasig-Tipton Company will conduct the auction, which begins at 6:30 p.m.

Because of a number of withdrawals before the sale, all 11 of the "also-eligible" sales entries listed in the catalog will be offered in the sale. Canterbury Park will host a new-owners seminar in conjunction with the sale at 9 a.m.

Last Sunday's fifth race was named in honor of Sandy Rettele, a longtime fixture behind the scenes in Nebraska racing who died suddenly last fall. The winner's circle was full of friends and family who were on hand for the blanket presentation, something Rettele had always been a big part of.

For 31 years Rettele made the blankets for Columbus Races and the other tracks in the state. Along with her husband, Jerry, dozens of well-wishers were on hand to honor her memory. Over the years it was estimated she made more than 30,000 blankets and 2,200 sets of silks.

Got Country Grip, one of the fastest paint horses ever, overcame extreme trouble in the $45,000 Speedhorse Derby last Friday night at Fair Meadows in Tulsa, Okla., to win his 12th straight race and remain undefeated.

Got Country Grip was bumped soundly at the start of the 350-yard race for 3-year-old paints and Appaloosas, but led at every call for a half-length win at 1-5.