ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Soaring Free, undefeated in five starts at Woodbine, including the Grade 1 Atto Mile, heads the list of finalists for this year's 30th annual Sovereign Awards.

The Jockey Club of Canada, which conducts the Sovereign Award balloting, announced the finalists in 15 categories on Friday after the ballots of 76 voters across Canada were tabulated by the accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Voters were asked to list their top three choices in order of preference, with points assigned on a 4-2-1 basis.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - The 2004 racing season is almost history, but Canadian horseplayers already are looking ahead to next year and the opportunity to wager directly into the home pools of racetracks in the United States.

The Woodbine Entertainment Group is actively pursuing the change, but Steve Mitchell, vice president of wagering operations, reports that the going is not easy.

"I suspect it will be well into 2005 before we get this rolling," said Mitchell. "But, that doesn't change our resolve. We're obviously committed to getting this done; we just

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - The $137,375 Valedictory Handicap, Woodbine's closing-day feature, has been won by a diverse cast of runners over the years, from stakes winners to claimers. Daddy Cool, the probable favorite in Sunday's renewal of the 1 3/4-mile marathon, is a combination of the two.

Daddy Cool, trained by Sean Smullen for Stronach Stable, capped a four-race win streak in 2002, when he won Walter Haight Handicap at Laurel Park. After running sixth in another Laurel stakes in January of 2003, he was laid up for nearly a year and a half with a suspensory problem.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Stakes winners Dave the Knave and Enough Is Enough will both go a route of ground for the first time in Sunday's $134,875 Kingarvie Stakes. The 1 1/16-mile race for Ontario-sired 2-year-olds is the supporting feature on closing day of the Woodbine meeting.

LOS ALAMITOS, Calif. - Even considering he's a Quarter Horse, Be a Bono has made a career of winning major races by narrow margins.

Three times, Be a Bono has won stakes by a head. Once he won by a neck. In each race, all over 400 yards, Be a Bono quickened in the final 50 yards to snatch the win.

The success makes Be a Bono, 3, the horse to beat in the $500,000 Champion of Champions at Los Alamitos on Saturday night. The race marks Be a Bono's first start at 440 yards.

Latenite Special looks to put a stranglehold on her status as queen of the 3-year-old filly New Mexico-bred set in Saturday's $125,000 La Coneja Stakes at Sunland. Latenite Special has nine opponents in the 5 1/2-furlong event for 3-year-old statebred fillies.

CHICAGO - The human connections of the Illinois-bred 2-year-old filly Arizona Rose looked forward to stretching their horse out to two turns Saturday at Hawthorne in the $100,000 Pat Whitworth Debutante. What they certainly did not envision was running farther than the other horses in the race.

Charming Socialite has used his explosive closing kick to make some waves in Texas sprint stakes over the past few months, but he has another side to his running style, and it might be called on Saturday night in the $40,000 Conroe Stakes at Sam Houston Race Park.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. - began his 2004 campaign with a cross-country trip to win the $110,600 San Bernardino Handicap at Santa Anita in April. Winless in five subsequent starts, Dynever has been sent back to California with the same objective - a victory - in Saturday's $100,000 Native Diver Handicap at Hollywood Park.

To win the Grade 3 Native Diver, run over 1 1/8 miles, Dynever will need a top performance. For a stakes with a modest purse, the race has drawn a solid field of 11, including Supah Blitz, who has won two stakes since joining trainer Doug O'Neill's stable in August.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. - An injury to Sugar Punch eliminated what would have been an intriguing matchup in Saturday's Garland of Roses Handicap between fillies owned by New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner and his manager, Joe Torre.

But with Torre's Sugar Punch on the disabled list with a knee chip, , owned by Steinbrenner, should have an easier time of it in the $75,000 Garland of Roses, run at six furlongs over Aqueduct's inner track. Not only is Sugar Punch absent, but Ebony Breeze should get the contested pace she needs with Cologny and Forest Music in the field.