VANCOUVER, British Columbia - Beau Soleil and Notis Otis will make their much-anticipated returns Friday at Hastings in a 6 1/2-furlong allowance race for horses that haven't won $30,000 in 2006. The seven-horse feature also includes stakes winners No Sox Fox and Illusive Force.

If Beau Soleil runs his usual race, they aren't going to beat him. Trained by Steve Henson, Beau Soleil routinely posts Beyer Speed Figures in the high 90's and low 100's. He hasn't raced since finishing fourth in the Governor's Cup at Fairplex last Sept. 25, but he runs very well fresh.

EDMONTON, Alberta - Blowin in the Wind puts a three-race winning streak on the line in the 6 1/2-furlong feature at Northlands Park on Friday. The optional claiming race attracted a field of six older horses.

After being disqualified from a fourth-place finish in the Stampede Sprint Championship, Blowin in the Wind shipped westward to Hastings, where he was unbeatable in optional claimers.

Blowin in the Wind's jockey will be Jake Barton, who also has arrived from the West Coast to join the Northlands colony.

AUBURN, Wash. - Lord Frederick will head a field of eight distance specialists when the Seattle's Best Joe Memorial Marathon Series gets under way at Emerald Downs on Friday.

Friday's initial leg of the three-race series, which is conducted under $10,000 starter allowance conditions, will be run at 1 1/8 miles. The second leg will go at 1 1/4 miles on Aug. 4, and the finale will go at 1 1/2 miles on Aug. 27. Each of the races will carry a purse of $12,000, and the trainer of the horse who earns the most points in the series will receive a $1,000 bonus.

FORT ERIE, Ontario - Edenwold, who defeated 12 rivals in winning the $1 million Queen's Plate at Woodbine on June 25, will have fewer opponents to contend with at Fort Erie in Sunday's $500,000 Prince of Wales Stakes.

A field of eight was announced at a special draw on Wednesday afternoon for the 1 3/16-mile Prince of Wales, which follows the 1 1/4-mile Queen's Plate as the second leg of Canada's Triple Crown for Canadian-bred 3-year-olds.

OCEANPORT, N.J. - Kelly Breen has two candidates for Saturday's Long Branch Stakes, Monmouth Park's traditional prep for the Grade 1 Haskell Invitational.

One is no surprise: Praying for Cash. A son of Songandaprayer, he has 2 wins and a second in 3 starts here for Breen, the meet's leading trainer.

Breen's other possible runner might be a reach: the New Jersey-bred Meadow Blue, who would require a $5,000 supplement.

Trainer Steve Hobby has not had a division of horses at Remington Park in Oklahoma City in at least five years, but that will change next month when he sends 20 horses to town for a revived meet that opens on Aug. 4.

Remington opened a slots casino last fall, and the success of its 650 electronic, bingo-based machines will help the track open with purses of $185,000 a day. Last year, purses averaged about $100,000 a day.

The Louisiana Thoroughbred Breeders annual summer mixed sale is scheduled for Aug. 6 at the Blackham Coliseum in Lafayette. A total of 201 weanlings, yearlings, 2-year-olds, horses of racing age, and breeding stock are slated to pass through the sales ring.

Judice Farms and Kraft Farm lead the yearling consignors with nine each, closely followed by McFadden Farm with eight. The auction begins at 10 a.m.

The battle for leading jockey may come down to the wire. Yuri Yaranga and R.D. Williams are head and head in the standings with the meet set to conclude its 37-day session on Sunday.

Yaranga enters the weekend with a 57-54 edge over Williams, the two-time defending champion at this meet. Dennis Collins has slipped into striking position with 47 winners but will need a super weekend to cut that margin.

When Spring Tribute captured a 1 1/4-mile starter allowance last Sunday by 11 lengths, the biggest story wasn't so much that none of his rivals was a threat, but that his winning time of 2:08 was nowhere close to a track record that is about to begin its ninth decade in existence.

This Snow Is Cold, who was a sharp winner of the Grade 1, $115,650 MBNA America Texas Challenge Championship for Quarter Horses last Saturday night at Sam Houston, will be considered for the Grade 2 Sam Houston Classic on Sept. 1, said her trainer, Melinda Garcia.

Garcia said This Snow Is Cold's main objective this fall is the Grade 1, $300,000 MBNA America Challenge Championships at Lone Star Park on Nov. 11.