SHAKOPEE, Minn. - A rich convergence of horses from throughout the U.S. was set in motion Wednesday, when entries were taken at Canterbury Park for the $550,000 Claiming Crown, the six-race series that will have its sixth running Saturday.

SHAKOPEE, Minn. - Surely it is a route rarely traveled, if not a scheme never tried.

Rafael Bejarano will be here Saturday from Evansville, Ind., to ride in all six of the Claiming Crown events at Canterbury Park, then leave soon thereafter from a small nearby airport to ride in one race Saturday night at Fairmount Park in Collinsville, Ill.

"They're telling me we can get it done," said Steve Elzey, Bejarano's agent, who will accompany the jockey on the trip.

ELMONT, N.Y. - Late-day thunderstorms have been par for the course during recent twilight Friday programs. The weather forecast is unsettled once again, so the connections of several contenders in the fifth and eighth races will be watching the skies and rooting yes or no, depending on their horses' preference.

The featured eighth is the $60,000 Scotzanna, an overnight stakes for older fillies and mares that drew a competitive field of six, including a trio of New York-breds - .

OCEANPORT, N.J. - Joe Bravo will have the mount when Lion Heart makes his first start since the Preakness in the Grade 3, $100,000 Long Branch Stakes on Saturday at Monmouth Park.

The Long Branch is Monmouth's traditional prep for 3-year-olds leading to the Grade 1, $1 million Haskell Invitational Aug. 8.

Bravo has become trainer Patrick Biancone's main rider at Monmouth. They teamed up earlier this meet to win the Grade 3 Jersey Shore Breeders' Cup Stakes with Pomeroy.

MIAMI - It wasn't long ago when local horsemen would complain about big days like last Saturday's Summit of Speed. They would become upset because so much of the day's purse money would inevitably leave the area in the pockets of a planeload of here-today, gone-tomorrow shippers from other sections of the country.

But such was not the case last weekend when Calder-based runners finished first and second in two of the five major stakes and grabbed numerous other minor awards among the $1.75 million in purses meted out on the fifth annual Summit of Speed card.

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. - Nine horses were entered Wednesday in Saturday's Round Table Stakes here. And to trainer Chris Block's surprise, he has two of them.

At $100,000, the Round Table has a decent purse, but the race lost Grade 3 status last year, and during the summer, there is a smorgasbord of 3-year-old stakes races laid out across the Midwest. The Round Table is not a bad race, but when Cryptograph, who has never won a stakes race, could be the favorite, it is the right time to take a shot.

It's not often that a trainer splits Cole Norman and Steve Asmussen in the standings at Louisiana Downs or Lone Star Park, where the pair dominate. But that is the case this meet at Louisiana Downs, where Charles Hukill ranks second to six-time title winner Norman, and is three wins in front of Asmussen, who is in third.

OMAHA, Neb. - Irish Flyer seeks to improve from last year's third-place finish when she heads a field of seven in the $27,500 Falls Amiss Handicap on Friday as Horsemen's Park enters day two of its four-day festival meet. A crowd of 8,000 to 10,000 is expected to turn out for Friday's four-race card, which has a 6 p.m. Central first post.

The Falls Amiss is a one-mile race for older Nebraska-bred fillies and mares.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Trainer Mark Frostad and jockey Todd Kabel have been the most successful combo on the turf at Woodbine this year, and they will team up with Puffer in Friday's feature, an $80,000 optional claimer on the turf.

Kabel gave Puffer an excellent ride when they captured the With Approval Handicap last August. He waited until mid-stretch before asking Puffer for all he had in that nine-furlong event, and they prevailed by a half-length over Hard Edge.

Assistant trainer Hugh Chatman said timing your move is the key to riding Puffer, who is often headstrong.

FORT ERIE, Ontario - Niigon, winner of Woodbine's $1 million Queen's Plate on June 27, will be looking to add the second jewel in the Canadian Triple Crown to his treasure chest in the Prince of Wales Stakes here Sunday.

Seven horses were entered in the $500,000 Prince of Wales, a 1 3/16-mile race for Canadian-bred 3-year-olds, at the special draw here Wednesday afternoon.

Niigon, owned by Chiefswood Stable and trained by Eric Coatrieux, will have his usual pilot, Robert Landry, in the irons when he breaks from post 3.