AUBURN, Wash. - Sundance Circle and Harvard Avenue, each a winner over maiden special weight company in his only start, figure to attract most of the attention in Saturday's $35,000 Emerald Express Stakes, the meet's first stakes for 2-year-old males. Seven were entered in the six-furlong race.

Sundance Circle, a strapping son of Katowice who sold for $52,000 at last summer's Washington Thoroughbred Breeders Association yearling sale, won by 2 1/2 lengths with 5 1/2 furlongs in 1:04.40 on June 8 and has continued to thrive, according to trainer Howard Belvoir.

VANCOUVER, British Columbia - It's easy to see why only four horses will go up against 123-pound highweight Dancewithavixen in Saturday's $40,000 Nanaimo Stakes at Hastings. She has dominated the local 3-year-old filly contingent, and in her two starts at the 1 1/16-mile distance of the Nanaimo, she won by almost five lengths each time.

It also comes as no surprise that with only four betting interests, there will be no place and show wagering on the race.

EDMONTON, Alberta - Sly Lady will have four rivals as she seeks her fifth straight victory in Saturday's $40,000 John Patrick Memorial at Northlands Park, the feature on day three of the Klondike Days run.

Sly Lady will carry high weight of 124 pounds, including her regular rider Real Simard, in the 1 1/16-mile race. She will be making her first appearance at Northlands since 2001, when she won two races as a 2-year-old, including the Princess Margaret.

CHICAGO - Even with just five horses entered for Saturday's Grade 2, $400,000 Washington Park Handicap, it's not hard to wring interest from the 1 3/16-mile race.

First there is Perfect Drift, who can validate his stunning upset of Mineshaft last month in the Grade 1 Stephen Foster Handicap at Churchill Downs. Third last year in the Kentucky Derby, Perfect Drift ran the race of his life to beat Mineshaft by a measured head, and jockey Pat Day, who engineered the victory, has followed him to Arlington.

ELMONT, N.Y. - The price will be shorter and expectations higher when Spoken Fur looks to duplicate her runaway victory in last month's Mother Goose Stakes in Saturday's Grade 1, $500,000 Coaching Club American Oaks at Belmont Park.

ELMONT, N.Y. - A few days before the June 28 Mother Goose Stakes, Austin Smith, the former trainer of Spoken Fur, was talking with Bobby Frankel, the new trainer of Spoken Fur.

"I talked to Bobby about Monday or Tuesday before the Mother Goose and I said, 'Is she eating good and is she happy?'" Smith said. "When he said yes, I knew she would win."

Win Spoken Fur did, galloping to a 5 1/4-length victory in the Grade 1 Mother Goose, her fourth consecutive victory and first in a stakes race.

OCEANPORT, N.J. - Vicki Oliver continues to look for the crystal ball that foretells the future.

Oliver wishes she found it two years ago so it could have told her to race Southern Fiction on grass.

Southern Fiction, a stakes winner on the main track, became an even more dynamic runner once she ran on turf. The 5-year-old is unbeaten in two grass races, including the Politely Stakes at Monmouth Park.

Southern Fiction faces her toughest turf challenge Saturday afternoon in the Grade 3, $100,000 Eatontown Handicap at Monmouth.

Three fillies who have collectively won 14 of 15 lifetime starts will meet for the first time in Saturday's $500,000 Delaware Oaks at Delaware Park.

The Grade 3 Oaks at 1 1/16 miles pits Awesome Humor, a multiple graded stakes winner last season, against Sue's Good News and Hennie's Song, both of whom are undefeated.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Castling has more unfinished races than victories in the last year, but trainer Bill Currin has not abandoned hope that her best days are ahead of her.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. - A buzz has surrounded Ruler's Court since he won his debut on June 11.

When he returns in Saturday's $100,000 Hollywood Juvenile Championship, Ruler's Court will be heavily favored against only four rivals. A few potential candidates passed in favor of the $125,000 Graduation Stakes for California-breds on July 30 while others are waiting for the graded stakes at Del Mar in August.

"Hopefully by the Breeders' Cup, I will scare them all off," trainer Eoin Harty wisecracked earlier this week.