EDMONTON, Alberta - The field for the seventh race on Friday night at Northlands Park, a $25,000 claiming race at 1 1/16 miles, has a number of former stakes performers, including South Side, Royal Group, and Gray Aras.

Royal Group, seventh in last year's Canadian Derby and claimed for $25,000 last time out, will make his first start for trainer Stu Simon. An Alberta-bred 4-year-old, Royal Group looked strong on the road to the Canadian Derby, but suffered a quarter crack that almost kept him out of the race.

MIAMI, Fla. - Horsemen traditionally have had an aversion to shipping their good horses to run in south Florida during the height of summer. So Calder management came up with one million reasons to change that thinking, and called it the Summit of Speed, a day that includes five sprint stakes with purses totaling more than $1 million. The Summit of Speed will have its second running here Saturday.

ELMONT, N.Y. - Before Princess Ellen came to New York last fall, she was finishing in the money in Group 1 races against top grass fillies in Europe. Her connections were hoping their filly would parlay her European form into wins in American stakes races.

So far, that hasn't been the case.

Princess Ellen has turned out to be an enigma for trainer Tommy Skiffington, who took over her training when she arrived from England.

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. - This is a wonderful time to have an Illinois-bred at Arlington. With increased Summer Festival purses plus a hefty Illinois owners' award, the two Illinois-breds in Friday's featured race, a $100,000 optional-claiming sprint, are shooting for a purse of roughly $70,000.

And they have more than blanks to fire. Classic Appeal will be among the favorites in the six-furlong race, the ninth of 10 on a 3 p.m. program, and Magic Doe, who has earned nearly $500,000 in his career, also has a realistic chance.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Crystal Halo and Geronimo's Joy are the two obvious contenders in Friday's Woodbine feature, a $62,500 optional claimer for fillies and mares going a mile on the grass.

Crystal Halo, a $180,000 yearling purchase by Sam-Son Farm, exhibited some promise when she was beaten a neck in her second start as a 3-year-old in June 2000. She was a bang-up second to future stakes winner Muntej when she faced males in a 1 3/8-mile allowance in August, but was a beaten favorite in maiden special weight company in each of her next two races.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Monday's closing day of the Hollywood Park spring-summer meeting cannot arrive soon enough for Jack Carava.

Through Wednesday, Carava was the top trainer at the meeting with 21 winners, leading Bob Baffert by four and Richard Mandella by five. While those stables are capable of winning several races in a short period of time, Carava is optimistic he can hold on and score his first training title.

He has runners throughout the weekend, including Simple Play in Friday's fourth race, his lone starter on the eight-race program.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Blueprint's appearance in Sunday's $200,000 Sunset Handicap comes at an ideal time for trainer Bob Hess Jr.

Hess has had a rough meeting at Hollywood Park this summer, winning with two of 49 starters. A victory from Blueprint in the turf marathon would lift his stable's spirits and put him closer to having a starter in the Breeders' Cup Turf at Belmont Park in October.

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. - Five jockeys have been fined for failing to ride at their reported weights in Saturday's Hanshin Handicap, and Arlington Park's clerk of scales has been replaced for his role in the incident.

Robby Albarado, Eddie Martin, Eddie Razo, Carlos Silva, and Ramsey Zimmerman all were fined $100 for their infractions. Arlington has replaced clerk of scales Conrad Enrique with assistant racing secretary Jack Bubolz. Enrique will assume a position as a patrol judge.

ELMONT, N.Y. - John's Call once again will get the opportunity to prove age is of no consequence. Now 10, he is nearing his first start of the year for trainer Tommy Voss and worked five furlongs Sunday at Colonial Downs over the turf in 1:00.80, breezing.

Last year, John's Call was one of the most compelling racing stories with his two Grade 1 wins, in the Sword Dancer and Turf Classic. By winning the Sword Dancer by 9 1/4 lengths, John's Call became the oldest horse to capture a Grade 1 flat race at Saratoga.

GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas - Royal Spy, who romped by seven lengths in the $125,000 Grand Prairie Turf Challenge on July 3, will ship from his Lone Star Park base Monday to Arlington Park for the Grade 2 $250,000 American Derby, said trainer Cole Norman.

The 1 3/16-mile turf race, to be run July 22, will serve as the colt's stepping-stone to the Grade 1 Secretariat on Aug. 18.