ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Punctilious and Classic Stamp finished a neck apart when they were second and third in last year's Grade 1 E.P. Taylor Stakes, a 1 1/4-mile turf race for fillies and mares here at Woodbine.

On Sunday, the two will meet again in the E.P. Taylor, which has had its purse boosted by $250,000 and will be worth a cool $1 million this time around.

While Punctilious is the probable favorite and Classic Stamp should be solidly supported, there are many possibilities in the highly competitive field of 12.

ELMONT, N.Y. - The Breeders' Cup will be run in New York for the fifth time, and the fourth at majestic Belmont Park, when the 22nd World Thoroughbred Championships are held Oct. 29.

When the Cup was held at Aqueduct in 1985, the event was still in its infancy and lacked the drama of its inaugural a year earlier at Hollywood Park. But the three previous Cups at Belmont Park have provided indelible moments, reflections of the best the sport can offer, and reminders of its grim realities.

Breeders' Cup VII
Oct. 27, 1990

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Meteor Storm apparently saw enough of Shakespeare in New York, chasing home that possible Breeders' Cup Turf favorite in his last two starts.

So Meteor Storm has ventured north to Woodbine, hoping to encounter a lighter caliber of dramatis personae in Sunday's Grade 1, $2 million .

"It was either this race or the Breeders' Cup," said Aimee Dollase, who is the daughter of and assistant to Meteor Storm's trainer, Wally Dollase, and is running the show here.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Langfleur's unbeaten record at six furlongs over Woodbine's turf course will be on the line in Sunday's Grade 2, $500,000 Nearctic Stakes.

Langfleur, a 5-year-old trained by Mike Keogh, won his maiden and an allowance going six furlongs on the grass here last year. After fracturing his pelvis in September 2004, Langfleur was sidelined for over a year, but returned to action with a front-running score in the six-furlong allowance prep for the Nearctic.

Preemptive Strike, a top contender in Saturday's Grade 1, $200,000 Breeders' Cup Steeplechase at Far Hills, N.J., was scratched Friday because of an abscess in his left front hoof.

The scratch reduces the BC Steeplechase field to five, including likely favorite Hirapour and McDynamo, who has won the last two editions of the race.

Preemptive Strike will now point to the Grade 1 Colonial Cup on Nov. 26 in Camden, S.C.

ELMONT, N.Y. - One week before the best horses in the world converge on New York for the 22nd Breeders' Cup World Thoroughbred Championships, many of the best horses bred in this state will be on display at Belmont Park in the 12th annual New York Showcase Day program.

All 10 races on Saturday's card will be restricted to New York-breds, including seven stakes with purses totaling $1 million. A total of 134 horses were entered on the card, with six of the seven stakes drawing a minimum of 12 horses. First post is 1 p.m.

ELMONT, N.Y. - If you liked last year's Hudson Handicap, then you're in luck. You may actually get to see it all over again.

Friendly Island, Clever Electrician and Papua - the top three finishers from last year's Hudson - are back to give it another shot.

Clever Electrician was sent off the favorite in last year's Hudson based on his impressive win in the General Douglas MacArthur Handicap. Shortly after last year's Hudson, Clever Electrician was found to have a hairline fracture in his knee.

ELMONT, N.Y. - Certifiably Crazy, who showed a new dimension when rallying to an easy victory here last month in the Ashley T. Cole Handicap, will be favored to duplicate the performance in Saturday's $150,000 Mohawk Handicap at Belmont Park. The Mohawk is one of seven stakes on the New York Showcase Day program.

ELMONT, N.Y. - If you put a line through the four Grade 1 races Seeking the Ante has run in this year, her record is quite impressive. Since Saturday's $125,000 Iroquois Handicap for New York-bred fillies and mares at seven furlongs is not a Grade 1, Seeking the Ante looks very formidable.

, a half-sister to 2004 Florida Derby winner Friends Lake, is already a graded stakes winner going seven furlongs at Belmont Park, having won the Grade 2 Nassau County Handicap here in May. Two starts back, Seeking the Ante won a second-level allowance race going seven furlongs at Saratoga.

Classic Pack and Sharp Humor present Belmont bettors with an interesting decision to make in Saturday's $100,000 Sleepy Hollow Stakes for 2-year-olds at one mile: Is Classic Pack really that much better than Sharp Humor, as he suggested when he ran away with the New York Breeders' Futurity early last month at Finger Lakes? Or, was the bad beating Sharp Humor took as the favorite at Finger Lakes an aberration, a possibility that was raised when Sharp Humor rebounded with a fast win in the Bertram F. Bongard Stakes four weeks ago?