NEW YORK - Starting in the next couple of weeks, stakes racing will be dominated by what transpires at the nation's two most important summer resort tracks, Saratoga and Del Mar. So before that happens, it's nice that some tracks that don't have the status of a Saratoga or Del Mar can command the stakes spotlight on Saturday.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Across the country, poker is rising in popularity - even on television, where it can be as exciting to watch as a mind-numbing world's strongest man competition.

Horse racing's version of high-stakes poker - the claiming game, and more specifically the Claiming Crown - also seems to be catching on. Sixty-two horses were entered in the six Claiming Crown races Saturday at Canterbury Park, an average of a little more than 10 starters per race.

NEW YORK - It wasn't the Grade 1, $750,000 Hollywood Gold Cup, one of the Summit of Speed races at Calder Race Course, or the Grade 1 Milady Breeders' Cup Handicap. The race last weekend that will likely have the greatest impact was Saturday's Swaps Breeders' Cup Stakes at Hollywood Park.

That is entirely due to Rock Hard Ten and the way he won it.

NEW YORK - Churchill Downs may have closed for the summer last Monday, but Churchill Downs-owned racetracks are still open for action. Two of them, Calder Race Course and Hollywood Park, have huge days of stakes racing Saturday.

Saturday is the $1.75 million Summit of Speed at Calder, which has six stakes events at six furlongs or less. The big events are the Smile Sprint Handicap and the Princess Rooney Handicap, each worth $500,000, and the Carry Back and Azalea Breeders' Cup Stakes, each worth $300,000.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Last week Lunarpal became only the second horse to sweep Churchill's three-race spring stakes series for 2-year-olds - following Horse of the Year Favorite Trick in 1997. But with a top Beyer Speed Figure of 85, he is not the fastest 2-year-old in training.

To see where Lunarpal fits against the fastest from across the country, I accessed the Daily Racing Form database and checked the top speed figures posted by 2-year-olds running at major North American tracks. Some of the information I discovered surprised me.

LAS VEGAS - It was all about bouncers in last Saturday's Prioress at Belmont Park. Nearly every filly had either 1) bounced in her previous race; or 2) should have bounced in her previous race; or 3) could very likely bounce in the Prioress. All you had to do was figure out who was going to bounce (and how badly), and who was going to recover (and by how much).

NEW YORK - Three of the four big stakes in Saturday's NTRA National Pick 4 were run on the turf, which helped put into focus the current state of the grass division. And, if you think the 3-year-old filly division is in a state of disarray, as detailed in this space last week, take a look at the male turf division. To sum up the division, it's a mess.

PHOENIX - He's worked his way from the mail room to middle management, and now eyes a slot in the executive wing. For Black Bart, Sunday's Grade 2 American Handicap is his big chance.

Early on, Black Bart couldn't even win a California-bred allowance. His trainer at the time, Grant Hofmans, dropped him into a $16,000 claiming event here in December 2003. Black Bart finished last of seven after being fractious at the gate and breaking poorly. He was claimed by Troy Bainum that day. Few considered it a coup for Bainum.

LEXINGTON, Ky. - Churchill's spring-summer meet comes to an end on Monday. The jockeys who performed well enough to be among the top 10 in the standings here will be heading to a number of different venues, so bettors at those tracks can benefit by knowing which of them met, or exceeded the expectations of bettors at this meet, and which did not.

NEW YORK - Fourth of July weekend gets off to a rousing start Saturday with a bevy of important stakes races, four of which are linked in an NTRA National Pick 4 wager.

The Grade 1, $750,000 American Oaks heads a big card at Hollywood Park that also includes the Grade 1, $300,000 Triple Bend Breeders' Cup Handicap, and two other stakes races worth $100,000 each.

The $500,000 Suburban Handicap is one of two Grade 1 events Saturday at Belmont, the other being the $250,000 Prioress Stakes for 3-year-old fillies.