In an effort to get his 2024 campaign back on track, Integration is getting back to his roots. Integration debuted last August at Colonial Downs, won nicely, and came right back with a sharp score over heavily favored Program Trading in the Virginia Derby. Perfect in two starts at Colonial as a 3-year-old, Integration will be heavily favored to win for the first time at age 4 while facing no more than four foes Saturday in the $125,000 Million Preview Stakes at Colonial. Six were entered in the 1 1/8-mile Million Preview, a local tune-up for next month’s Arlington Million, but trainer Michael Trombetta said Forever Souper would be scratched and start instead at Laurel Park. The Colonial morning-line pegged Forever Souper the 5-2 second choice, but Siege of Boston always was going to fill that role, with Integration a likely odds-on favorite – for good reason. :: Bet with the Best! Get FREE All-Access PPs and Weekly Cashback when you wager on DRF Bets. Integration went from the Virginia Derby onto New York and dominated the Hill Prince Stakes, ending his sophomore season unbeaten in three starts. The two stakes wins so impressed bettors that Integration, facing older horses for the first time Jan. 27, went off the 6-5 favorite over 11 rivals in the Grade 1 Pegasus World Cup Turf. A ridiculously low price, for sure, and Integration wasn’t beating victorious Warm Heart, who ran to her superior form with a perfect trip, but Integration would have finished better than fifth had he not encountered compromising trouble in upper stretch. Integration didn’t suit a wet-turf Grade 1 mile, still finishing a respectable third in the Maker’s Mark at Keeneland in April, and in the Grade 1 Turf Classic on Derby Day at Churchill Downs, Integration never had much chance to fully extend himself. He checked in a close fourth, and after starting 3 for 3, the colt returns to Colonial winless from three 2024 starts. “I hope I’m prepping for the Million, but we’re looking for spots to get him going again,” said Shug McGaughey, who trains Integration for Woodford Racing and West Point Thoroughbreds. “He ran good over that track two times, and this came up at the right time with his training.” McGaughey subscribes to the proposition that Integration has put together a better season than the three defeats imply. “The Pegasus, that came up on our screen later on, and he had a really rough trip. We went to the Maker’s Mark to get him to Churchill, and it came up soft turf [at Keeneland]. He ran good but couldn’t kick on, and it was the same sort of thing in Louisville. Hopefully we’ll catch firmer turf, and we can see where we stand with him,” McGaughey said. Siege of Boston enters on a longer losing streak than Integration’s seven in a row, and Nineeleventurbo is the better exacta partner for Integration if not an outright play himself. Seven-year-old Nineeleventurbo needed a dozen starts just to clear the maiden ranks, doing so in his first start with blinkers, then improving steadily with age. A potentially premature move might have cost him victory last summer in his stakes debut, the Grade 2 Del Mar Handicap over 11 furlongs, and Nineeleventurbo faded late to fifth in the Red Smith last fall at Aqueduct, a second 11-furlong contest suggesting the gelding needed less distance. Less, but far more than the 6 1/2 furlongs he raced returning from a winter break May 26 in the Daytona at Santa Anita. Trainer Neil Drysdale clearly used that race as a prep, and Nineeleventurbo will improve Saturday under Hector Berrios. Highland Chief and Happyisashappydoes complete the field. Berrios also rides for Drysdale in the $125,000 Beverly D. Preview, this time with likely favorite Nadette. Drysdale, a Hall of Famer since 2000, never won a race at Arlington, the site of the historical Beverly D. until Churchill Downs Inc. shut down the racecourse. The Drysdale-trained Storming Home finished first in the 2009 Million, but was disqualified for interference right at the finish line. Nadette, who campaigns for Team Valor International, is no Storming Home either in terms of talent or deep-rooted quirks, but she can beat the seven entered against her in this 1 1/16-mile contest. A French import, 5-year-old Nadette has won just once in 11 North American starts, though she was an improving mare before capturing the Grade 3 Wilshire by two lengths on April 4. Nadette finished a close fourth last out in the Grade 1 Gamely, falling much too far off the early pace before coming home with a field-best 11.21 final furlong. Canisy and Blissful should provide the main competition. Nadette should beat them. ◗ The $125,000 Boston Stakes, a prep for the Secretariat Stakes next month, looks like a two-horse race between Fulmineo and In a Jam, though Oishi could get into the mix at a better price. Fulmineo’s last-start win at Pimlico came over a very soft course, but he’d previously turned in comparable performances on firmer footing. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.