ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Three of Woodbine’s top jockeys won’t be in action here this weekend, which includes the closing day of the meet Sunday. Leading rider Luis Contreras is representing Mexico in a jockey challenge in Panama, and Eurico Rosa Da Silva, a clear second in the standings, has traveled to his native Brazil.

Justin Stein missed the final two weeks of the meet due to personal reasons. He ranked third heading into this week, but both Jesse Campbell and Patrick Husbands were breathing down his neck after each of them found the winner’s circle Wednesday night.

Breeders’ Cup Classic runner-up Will Take Charge arrived at Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs, Ark., on Tuesday, according to track officials. He was part of a shipment of D. Wayne Lukas-trained horses that included Grade 1 Hopeful winner Strong Mandate and Grade 2 Dixie winner Skyring. Will Take Charge won the Grade 1 Clark Handicap at Churchill in his most recent start Nov. 29. He is owned by Willis Horton of Marshall, Ark. Lukas regularly winters at Oaklawn, which opens its meet Jan. 10.

Noble Cornerstone, a flashy debut winner at Aqueduct for trainer Wesley Ward, is among eight or nine probables for the $250,000 Springboard Mile for 2-year-olds at Remington Park on Sunday, said Don Thompson, stakes coordinator for the Oklahoma City track. Noble Cornerstone on Thursday was scheduled to fly in from his Keeneland base.

Boyd Gaming wants to develop a marquee stakes race, likely for 3-year-olds, at Evangeline Downs in Opelousas, La., an executive with the Las Vegas-based company said. Boyd acquired Evangeline last year as part of its purchase of Peninsula Gaming. Evangeline is currently conducting a Quarter Horse meet that runs through Dec. 19. The track’s Thoroughbred meet opens in April and runs through the end of August.

ARCADIA, Calif. – Tap It Rich ran so well winning his debut at Santa Anita on Oct. 12 and worked so sharply into the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile, that he was sent off as the second choice in that race. But his inexperience, at which he had hinted in his training, betrayed him on the day, when he finished fifth behind four more experienced horses, including his Bob Baffert-trained stablemate, New Year’s Day, who won the Juvenile at 10-1.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Though King Kreesa managed only a 12th-place finish in last weekend’s Hong Kong Mile, trainer Jeremiah Englehart said he enjoyed his first experience of international racing.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. – Streaming and Taste Like Candy, the first two finishers in the Hollywood Starlet Stakes last Saturday, could have a rematch in the $300,000 Las Virgenes Stakes for 3-year-old fillies over a mile at Santa Anita on Feb. 1.

After Saturday’s race, trainer Bob Baffert said he would like to keep Streaming in Grade 1 races in early 2014. The Las Virgenes is the first of two Grade 1 races for 3-year-old fillies at the Santa Anita winter-spring meeting. The $400,000 Santa Anita Oaks will be run April 5.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. – Boat Trip, a 4-year-old Harlan’s Holiday colt, made the most of the final seasons of Betfair Hollywood Park.

The track will close permanently at the end of the meeting Dec. 22, and Boat Trip is going out a winner. He won Sunday’s $100,000 Hollywood Turf Express over six furlongs on grass by a half-length over No Silent, Chips All In, and Unbridled’s Note, who finished second in a triple dead heat.

An interesting rivalry appears to be developing at Golden Gate Fields heading into 2014. Exit Stage Left, who is 2 for 2 with two stakes victories after winning the one-mile Gold Rush Stakes last Saturday, Gold Rush runner-up Argyle Cut, and third-place finisher Rockford all are looking at the $100,000 California Derby on Jan. 18 for their next start.

Exit Stage Left is a New Jersey-bred colt purchased by Mark DeDomenico and Jerry Hollendorfer for $100,000 at the March Barretts sale.

“He worked well,” Hollendorfer said, explaining the purchase.