ETOBICOKE, Ontario - The rapidly improving Perfect Soul will try to solidify his status as the leading turf runner at Woodbine Sunday in the $330,900 Chinese Cultural Centre Stakes.

A field of eight was drawn for the Grade 2 race, which could be regarded as a prep for the Grade 1 Arlington Million Aug. 16.

Perfect Soul won three of seven starts in 2002 although he failed to win a stakes race. He won his season opener this year in a Keeneland allowance race, and then finished second in the Grade 2 Dixie Handicap at Pimlico.

Horses who have been regularly running at Charles Town get a chance to compete for bigger purses than usual during Sunday's Horseman's Benevolent and Protective Association Owners' Day program.

Four stakes worth $40,000 apiece, ranging in distance from 4 1/4 furlongs to 1 1/8 miles, all attracted full fields of 10. Preference was given to horses who have raced at Charles Town in their last five starts.

BOSSIER CITY, La. - Lac Laronge, stakes-placed against open company in the Airline Stakes here two weeks ago, returns to the ranks of Louisiana-breds Sunday afternoon in the Arcadia Stakes. The $50,000 headliner for 3-year-olds will be run at six furlongs.

Clever Jimmy C leads a field of eight entered in Sunday's $40,000 Horizon Stakes, a 1 1/16-mile turf race for Ohio-accredited 3-year-olds, at River Downs.

The Horizon is an interesting puzzle for handicappers, as none of the entrants has won over the grass, and six of the eight, including Clever Jimmy C, have never tried the surface.

SOUTH SIOUX CITY, Neb. - Two starter allowances, each with a purse of $15,000, round out the final card of Horsemen's Atokad Downs's two-day meet.

Owned and operated by the Nebraska HBPA, Atokad is the sister track of the highly successful Horsemen's Park in Omaha and serves as a year-round simulcast center. While the market has never been as strong in the South Sioux City area as in Omaha, the track fills a void left when Atokad Park closed under financial difficulties after its 1997 season.

Atokad offered purses of nearly $80,000 per day on its two six-race cards.

WINNIPEG, Manitoba - For a while, it didn't look like Assiniboia Downs was ever going to fill a 2-year-old race.

Now, there's a field of 12 for Sunday's $35,000 Debutante Stakes for 2-year-old fillies. Even more amazing is that 10 of the 12 have already started at least once.

Ericka's Lass took the worst of it at the draw, getting post position 12 in the 5 1/2-furlong race.

SHAKOPEE, Minn. - They might be labeled as everyday horses, but Saturday isn't just any day. Those underappreciated racehorses known as claimers will take a rare turn in the national racing spotlight Saturday when they compete in six races that have become the pride of Canterbury Park, the annual Claiming Crown series.

SHAKOPEE, Minn. - Owner Michael Gill has been such a dominant force in the North American claiming game in recent years that his limited participation in the Claiming Crown has seemed rather conspicuous. Gill dispatched two also-rans to Philadelphia Park last year, the only time he has ever bothered with the Claiming Crown.

SHAKOPEE, Minn. - Saturday marks the sixth time that Julie Krone has traveled to Canterbury Park. The Hall of Famer rode in a 1988 jockey challenge, a 1988 match race against Bill Shoemaker, a 1989 match race against Dean Kutz, and the 1991 Minnesota Derby. She even made a public relations appearance at the 2000 Claiming Crown after retiring from riding.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Soaring Free, the top sprinter in the country, and Wake at Noon, last year's champion sprinter and Canadian Horse of the Year, were both entered Saturday at Woodbine, but in different stakes races.

Soaring Free will be heavily favored in the $107,000 Ontario Jockey Club Stakes, a seven-furlong turf race for Canadian-breds. Wake at Noon will face last year's champion 2-year-old, Added Edge, in the $138,500 Bold Venture Handicap, at 6 1/2 furlongs. Added Edge will be making his first start since January.