EAST BOSTON - After Senor Ladd was crowned horse of the year by the New England Turf Writers Association last week, Runnymede Farm in North Hampton, N.H., could boast about being the home of three of the region's champions, joining former horses of the year Mom's Command and Gander.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Gamblers Slew, who has thrived on the turf course here this year, will be looking to repel three invaders as the 119-pound highweight here in Saturday's Toronto Cup.

The $161,250 Toronto Cup, an open 1 1/8-mile race for 3-year-olds, has attracted a field of five, including Chatham Strait from Kentucky and the Maryland-based Bestowed and T.D. Vance.

"This is a stepping-stone, to see what we have," said Jody Hammett, who trains Gamblers Slew for Herbert Chambers. "I don't think we've seen his whole potential yet."

FORT ERIE, Ontario - Dan Mooney, who operates as Huntington Stud Farm Corp., went to the 2003 Keeneland September yearling sale and bought just two Canadian-bred colts, one for $15,000 and the other for $10,000.

On Sunday, both horses - Out From Africa and Stephen's Gift - will take on Queen's Plate victor Wild Desert in the six-horse, $500,000 Prince of Wales at Fort Erie.

WINNIPEG, Manitoba - The $40,000 R.C. Anderson Stakes on Saturday at Assiniboia Downs, for 3-year-old fillies bred in Manitoba, may come down to who gets the mile distance. All but two in the field will be trying a route of ground for the first time.

Chilean import Isola Piu Bella and the speedy Kentucky shipper Two Trail Sioux head a group of six graded stakes winners entered Wednesday for this weekend's Delaware Handicap.

A track-record purse of $1 million lured 12 older fillies and mares for the 68th running of the 1 1/4-mile Del Cap, the biggest field since 13 horses ran in 1999.

Both the , which goes as race 11 at 5:44 p.m. Eastern, and the Grade 3, $300,000 Leonard Richards Stakes for 3-year-olds (race 10, 5:13 p.m.) will be televised on ESPN2.

SHAKOPEE, Minn. - In the six years since the was first run at Canterbury Park, Scott Lake has become a veritable big-timer in North American racing, habitually ranking among the winningest trainers while plying his trade at major-league tracks such as Belmont Park and Gulfstream Park.

SHAKOPEE, Minn. - One of the traits the shares with the Triple Crown and Breeders' Cup is that horses and their connections travel from all over North America to participate.

Officials at Canterbury Park would never dare to put the Claiming Crown on a par with racing's glamour events, but they still take great pride in having molded the Claiming Crown into a destination event for horses and horsemen. The 62 horses scheduled to run Saturday in the seven-race series made their respective last starts at 15 different racetracks.

ELMONT, N.Y. - Big Apple Daddy, a very consistent New York-bred, steps into open company Friday at Belmont Park in the $65,000 Smoke Glacken Stakes for 3-year-olds.

He comes out of the Mike Lee Stakes for statebreds on June 26, a race that trainer Bruce Levine said was "like an open race. Some of the horses in there have been running Beyer Figures of 90 to 100."

battled three wide for the lead in the seven-furlong stakes and held a narrow advantage in the lane. He finished fourth, beaten only 2 3/4 lengths by Naughty New Yorker.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. - The published time for Bashert's three-furlong workout at Hollywood Park on Wednesday was more than a second different from what trainer Bill Currin recorded on his stopwatch.

For Currin, this was rather unsettling.

Officially, Bashert breezed from the gate in 36.80 seconds. "He really went in 35.40," Currin said.

By Saturday, when Bashert runs in the $100,000 Hollywood Juvenile Championship, that discrepancy is unlikely to be a big factor in the public's perception of the colt. They already know he is one to follow.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Tricky Day, claimed for $16,000 at Gulfstream Park in April, has already turned out to be a bargain for the G Racing syndicate, Carl Van Burger, and their partners.

A winner of 3 of 5 starts and $62,100, will try for his third consecutive win in a $51,000 optional claimer over six furlongs at Hollywood Park on Friday evening. And, no, he is not eligible to be claimed.