LOUISVILLE, Ky. - It was four weeks ago Saturday that Joint Effort handled a Todd Pletcher standout with surprising ease. The race was the La Troienne Stakes, the sixth on the Kentucky Derby card, and Joint Effort earned a career-high Beyer Speed Figure of 103 when she defeated the Pletcher-trained favorite, Adieu, by 3 1/4 lengths.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - A horse winning three consecutive runnings of a stakes is a rarity, but Saturday it could happen at Churchill Downs for the second time in less than a week.

On Monday, Silverfoot won the Louisville Handicap for the third year in a row. Senor Swinger will attempt to match that accomplishment Saturday by winning his third straight running of the , a 1 1/16-mile turf race

INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Star Parade will make her 21st consecutive appearance in a graded stakes when she starts as the favorite in Saturday's $175,000 at Hollywood Park.

It is a remarkable streak of racing at the highest level, a span that includes six stakes wins, including a front-running victory in the Grade 3 Hawthorne Handicap here on May 7. Star Parade's consistency has left trainer Darrell Vienna confident that the 7-year-old mare can win consecutive stakes for the first time in more than two years in the Grade 2 Milady, a 1 1/16-mile race she won in 2004.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. - A year and three months since he last started, Declan's Moon, the champion 2-year-old male of 2004, is nearing a comeback, and impressing trainer Ron Ellis with his workouts.

In a career twice interrupted by injury, Declan's Moon has been working steadily in recent weeks at Santa Anita, including a five-furlong work in 59.60 seconds on Thursday. Ellis hopes that Declan's Moon's bad luck is behind him and that he is nearing a memorable comeback later this summer.

"He looks awesome," Ellis said. "He might be a better horse now than before."

ELMONT, N.Y. - Stadore may be second best of the two fillies trainer Patrick Biancone nominated to Saturday's $100,000 Sands Point Stakes at Belmont Park, but she may be good enough to get the job done in the Grade 3 race for 3-year-old fillies.

Of course, that all depends upon the race staying on Belmont's inner turf course. Thunderstorms are forecast Friday night into Saturday morning.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Ambitious Cat, last year's champion turf female in Canada, launches her 2006 Woodbine campaign Saturday in the Grade 2, $300,000 Nassau Stakes.

A Storm Cat mare, Ambitious Cat was a solid allowance performer before the 2005 Nassau, in which she finished second to favored American invader Que Puntual. Ambitious Cat went on to be second in the Grade 2 Canadian Handicap, and the highlight of her campaign was a half-length loss to Honey Ryder and Latice in the Grade 1 E.P. Taylor Stakes on Oct. 23.

VANCOUVER, British Columbia - In terms of the total number of horses entered, Saturday's card at Hastings has to be considered one of the best seen here in recent years. All nine of the races have at least 10 horses. Although there are no stakes races, the quality of racing is decent, and either the seventh or eighth race would serve as an excellent feature.

CALGARY, Alberta - Ledbury, an old pro with a 14-for-47 lifetime mark, steps up another notch to the $30,000 claiming plateau in search of his third consecutive victory here at Stampede Park on Saturday. Ledbury, a 9-year-old gelding, faces just five rivals in the sixth race on the seven-race card.

AUBURN, Wash. - Star Amethyst and Carrie's a Jewel, the one-two finishers in a $32,000 optional claiming affair at six furlongs on May 13, will be rematched in Saturday's feature at Emerald Downs. The feature is a $40,000 optional claiming test at 6 1/2 furlongs that has drawn a field of five fillies and mares.

ELMONT, N.Y. - Officials of the New York Racing Association met with horsemen on Thursday to trumpet the many changes that have led to an increase in business this year, but it is clear there is still discord between management and horsemen.

At least that was the sentiment of some of the horsemen who attended a 70-minute meeting at Belmont Park that touched on a wide range of issues.