LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The gauntlet has been laid down. Tom Amoss came out firing Wednesday at Churchill Downs by sending out three winners, then said the following morning that he fully expects "a dogfight" for the balance of the spring meet among himself and the other two men seeking the training title.

The three Amoss winners were Toliver ($10.40) in the fourth, Anna Em ($2.60) in the ninth, and Aquiess ($4) in the 10th. Amoss also sent out Sweet Baby Jane to a sixth-place finish as the favorite in the seventh race.

Graded stakes winners Icy Atlantic and Timo are in top form, but the most intriguing entrant in Saturday's Grade 3, $250,000 Kent Breeders' Cup at Delaware Park is a 3-year-old whose season has mostly been a disappointment on dirt.

If he runs, Master David, far back in both the Kentucky Derby and the Belmont Stakes, will be returning to turf for the first time since going 1 for 3 to start his career in England last summer. He could have won all three of those races, but fell a nose short in one and a neck short in the other. All three were sprints against maidens.

OCEANPORT, N.J. - Value Plus and Pomeroy, two 3-year-olds looking to regroup, headline the Grade 3, $100,000 Jersey Shore Breeders' Cup Saturday at Monmouth Park.

The two colts possess the most extensive stakes experience in the five-horse field. Both head for Monmouth in search of a confidence-restoring victory.

Value Plus, trained by Todd Pletcher at Belmont Park, looks to rebound from a disappointing effort in the Grade 2 Riva Ridge Breeders' Cup Stakes on the Belmont Stakes undercard.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Team Valor president Barry Irwin has had lots of success buying young Canadian racing prospects over the years. The list includes 2-year-old champions Added Edge and Free at Last, and stakes winners Maple Syrple and Demaloot Demashoot.

Team Valor's latest local purchase is Fortunate Trip, who should be well backed in Saturday's $139,875 Victoria Stakes, a five-furlong dash for 2-year-olds at Woodbine.

AUBURN, Wash. - Aunt Sophie will head a field of nine older fillies and mares in Saturday's $40,000 King County Handicap at Emerald Downs.

EDMONTON, Alberta - Northlands patrons will have their first look at the current crop of older stakes runners Saturday when a field of six talented sprinters meet in the Journal Handicap, a $40,000 race at 6 1/2 furlongs.

Taiaslew, last year's champion 3-year-old in Alberta, will make his first appearance of this season in the province.

Greg Tracy trains Taiaslew, a front-running son of Slewdledo who won four consecutive stakes, including the Alberta Derby, last year. Taiaslew also has had the benefit of winter racing at Turf Paradise, where he won the Coyote Handicap.

VANCOUVER, British Columbia - Razor Barb should feast on what is likely to be a hotly contested pace between Sunset Pass, Stormented, and possibly Lady's Jewel in Saturday's feature at Hastings.

Harmony Lodge, one of the East's top female sprinters, seeks to end a three-race losing streak Saturday, when she goes against much softer company than she's accustomed to in the $100,000 My Juliet Stakes at Philadelphia Park.

Tam's Terms will seek to regain the good turf form that enabled him to win 4 of 6 starts last year when he attempts to win the $50,000 Da Hoss for the second straight time at Colonial Downs.

As a 5-year-old in 2003, Tam's Terms won three stakes, including the one-mile Da Hoss by a length as the 6-5 favorite. He hasn't been quite the same horse this season, however, failing to finish within eight lengths of the winner in either of his first two starts.

As a 3-year-old in 2002, Calends was talented enough to finish third in three sprint stakes, including the $150,000 Gallant Bob at Philadelphia Park. Although he was based at Penn National then, Calends always shipped out of town to race.

Now a 5-year-old, Calends will make his first stakes appearance at his old home track in the $25,000 Alison McClay Memorial, a six-furlong race for older horses.

Claimed by trainer John Zimmerman for $25,000 in April at Gulfstream, Calends won his first start for his new connections in an allowance race May 28, earning a 79 Beyer.