ETOBICOKE, Ontario - September is coming, and the turf course here will be in its full glory with the Grade 1 Atto Mile, Canadian International, and E.P. Taylor Stakes sure to attract horses from across North America and across the Atlantic.

The annual invasion should be officially launched early this week with Good Journey, trained by Wally Dollase, due to check in from California.

Good Journey's target is the Sept. 8 Atto Mile, a $1 million race for 3-year-olds and up.

DEL MAR, Calif. - Kafwain gave trainer Bob Baffert a record third consecutive victory in Wednesday's Grade 3, $150,000 Best Pal Stakes at Del Mar.

Baffert had won the Best Pal Stakes with Flame Thrower (2000) and Officer (2001). He also won with Worldly Manner in 1998.

The victory by Kafwain, and a second by the Baffert-trained Chief Planner, gives Baffert an excellent chance to win an unprecedented seventh consecutive Del Mar Futurity on Sept. 11.

DEL MAR, Calif. - The challenge of facing older horses is a rite of passage that top 3-year-olds face every fall, one that both Came Home and War Emblem are scheduled to undertake Sunday at Del Mar in the $1 million Pacific Classic.

Only six times in the 11 previous runnings of this Grade 1, 1 1/4-mile race have 3-year-olds faced their elders, but the strike rate among them is quite good, with two victories, by Best Pal and General Challenge, and two other in-the-money finishes.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Summer Colony and Dancethruthedawn, who waged an epic duel through the Pimlico stretch in May, will renew acquaintances Friday when they headline a six-horse field entered in the $400,000, Grade 1 Personal Ensign Handicap at Saratoga.

Summer Colony and Dancethruthedawn are considered the two best handicap fillies in the East, and rank only behind California-based Azeri in the overall divisional standings. They put on quite a show in the Pimlico Distaff Breeders' Cup Handicap when Summer Colony outlasted Dancethruthedawn by a nose.

EDMONTON, Alberta - When the horses line up in the starting gate for Saturday's 73rd running of the Grade 3 Canadian Derby, no one will be more proud than Rae Johnson, the trainer of Alberta-bred Topwynson.

Following in the footsteps of his grandfather and father, both trainers, Johnson is the first person in his family to participate in Alberta's biggest Thoroughbred race, which goes over 1 3/8 miles and has a $150,000 purse.

OCEANPORT, N.J. - In his first riding stint at Monmouth, Abdiel Toribio has his sights set on a top-five finish in the jockey standings. The meet already has been a success for Toribio, who has found a new summer spot for years to come.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Trainer Todd Pletcher was dealt another blow when Warners, suffering from laminitis, was euthanized on Tuesday evening.

It was the second horse from Pletcher's stable to die in the last nine days. Freedom's Daughter, who won the Grade 2 Schuylerville on opening day, died suddenly on Aug. 12 from what was believed to be colitis X, a disease that wreaks havoc with a horse's lower intestinal tract.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Allen Jerkens has always believed Puzzlement to be a good horse. He figured by now he would know for sure if he were right.

Jerkens and the rest of us will find out how good Puzzlement is when he faces heavy favorite Medaglia d'Oro, one-time Kentucky Derby future-book favorite Repent, and six others in Saturday's $1 million Travers Stakes at Saratoga.

DEL MAR, Calif. - Bayou the Moon flirted with joining the top 3-year-olds last summer before a tendon injury put an end to that campaign. Two races into his 4-year-old season, Bayou the Moon faces an important test in Friday's $75,000 Harry F. Brubaker Handicap at Del Mar, his first start in a stakes since a fifth-place finish in the 2001 Swaps Stakes at Hollywood Park.

DEL MAR, Calif. - Garrett Gomez has a streak to protect when he rides Momentum in Sunday's $1 million Pacific Classic at Del Mar.

In the last two years, Gomez made winning the Pacific Classic look easy, guiding the front-runner Skimming to wins in 2000 and 2001.

With Momentum, Gomez has found a logical contender for a third consecutive win in a race expected to have a 14-runner field led by Kentucky Derby winner War Emblem.

Gomez's opinion of his mount strengthened on Wednesday when Momentum worked three furlongs in 35.40 seconds.