EDMONTON, Alberta - Monday's 57th running of the $50,000 Birdcatcher Stakes for 2-year-olds here at Northlands continues a budding rivalry between stakes winners Bear Character and Teagues Fight.

Bear Character, owned by Danny Dion, and Teagues Fight, owned by Rocky Mountain Turf Club, will meet for the third time as part of a field of nine sprinting 6 1/2 furlongs.

Bear Character, a Kentucky-bred, was defeated by Teagues Fight in his debut, but gained revenge by winning the Edmonton Juvenile in July. Teagues Fight finished fourth in that race.

VANCOUVER, British Columbia - When Notis Otis came close to dying just a few months ago, it was hard to imagine him running in the Grade 3, $250,000 British Columbia Derby. Nevertheless, if he runs well in the $50,000 Richmond Derby Trial at Hastings Monday, he'll be one of the favorites in the derby on Sept. 24. It will take a good race to win the 1 1/16-mile Richmond Derby Trial as a very strong field of nine 3-year-olds has been entered.

MIAMI - The connections of Southern Cal have talked about the Breeders' Cup Mile at Belmont Park as a possible goal later this fall. But first they must get by Calder's $150,000 Miami Mile Breeders' Cup Handicap, which shares top billing on Monday's 14-race Labor Day card with the $100,000 Aspidistra Handicap for fillies and mares. Both races are scheduled for a mile on the turf.

DEL MAR, Calif. - Castledale, the winner of Grade 1 races in 2004 and this year, has been retired because of recurring ankle problems, trainer Jeff Mullins said Saturday.

Owned by Greg Knee and Frank Lyons, Castledale, 4, won 5 of 17 starts and $864,423 in a three-year career. The highlights were a 30-1 upset in the Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby in 2004 and a victory in the Grade 1 Shoemaker Breeders' Cup Mile at Hollywood Park in May. In his final start, Castledale finished fourth in the Grade 1 Eddie Read Handicap at Del Mar on July 24.

With race favorites Sun King and Real Dandy stuck on the outside, spotting most of the field 3 to 8 pounds, and racing on the Philadelphia Park surface for the first time, Monday's Grade 2, $750,000 could be primed for an upset.

Sun King, a multiple Grade 3 winner and the Haskell runner-up, got saddled with post 14, and Real Dandy, the West Virginia Derby winner, is immediately to his inside in the largest Pennsylvania Derby field in the race's 27-year history. The Pennsylvania Derby goes as race 10 on an 11-race card that begins at 12:05 p.m. Eastern.

CINCINNATI - The results of the Travers Stakes last weekend did not go unnoticed in the overlapping racing communities of Cincinnati and northern Kentucky. The Travers winner, Flower Alley, captured his first career stakes in the Lane's End at nearby Turfway Park in March, while the runner-up, Bellamy Road, first drew widespread attention with a sensational win in the Cradle Stakes at River Downs last Labor Day.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - For those who think has lost a step since running second to Ouija Board in the 2004 Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf, trainer Graham Motion strongly disagrees.

Motion has the utmost confidence in Film Maker, who gave him his first Grade 1 win, in the 2003 Queen Elizabeth II Cup at Keeneland. He said she simply has been the victim of difficult trips in 2 of her 3 starts this year.

SAN MATEO, Calif. - Bonfante is at the top of his game right now. He has won three straight sprint stakes on dirt, earning triple-digit Beyer Speed Figures in two of them and a 96 in his most recent victory, when he cruised to a four-length score in the Ernest Finley at Santa Rosa.

On Monday, he figures to be the one to catch in the $100,000 California Turf Championship at Bay Meadows at one mile over the turf. He is one of seven in the field of California-breds.

MIAMI - In Summation and Running Lass, along with their regular rider, Manoel Cruz, kept their chances alive of pulling off an unprecedented double sweep of the Florida Stallion Stakes after winning the middle legs of the series over a sloppy track at Calder on Saturday. Their victories were the highlight of the 14-race Juvenile Showcase card, all for 2-year-olds.

Ay Caramba's only claim to fame could have been as the answer to this racing trivia question: Who was the last winner ridden by Pat Day?

Instead, the 5-year-old Brazilian-bred Ay Caramba is making a name for himself among older turf horses.

Something of a disappointment after losing seven of his first eight starts in the United States, Ay Caramba has now put together a four-race winning streak. His latest triumph came Saturday when he flew past Mr O'Brien in deep stretch to capture the $194,000 Caesar Rodney Handicap at Delaware Park.