ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Sunday’s $100,000 Overskate Stakes features an intriguing matchup between Awesome Bourbon and Cruden Bay. They have taken different paths to this 7 1/2-furlong inner turf event for Ontario-sired stock, and Awesome Bourbon could go favored under Woodbine’s leading rider, Rafael Hernandez.

In a year where he was a rare non-factor in the 3-year-old division, trainer Todd Pletcher surprisingly finds himself in contention for a record-extending ninth Eclipse Award as champion trainer on the strength of an older male division and a 2-year-old class that brings him to the Breeders’ Cup with several live chances.

It’s a position he couldn’t fathom after the first six months of the year, when he won just six graded stakes, three of which were Grade 1s.

It can be hard to assess the strength of juvenile maidens coming out of flashy debut victories, but trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. has several reasons to believe that Bravaro will be a deserving favorite in the $200,000 Sleepy Hollow Stakes at Aqueduct on Saturday.

“He was very impressive first time out,” Joseph said. “He sat behind horses, and once he was able to get room, he finished off the race well. So he’s stretching out to a mile, and I think it should work in his favor.”

The improving Sir Bahjy and the streaking Mackadoo will clash Saturday in the $250,000 Unreachable Star, the richest of four Thoroughbred stakes on the card at Horseshoe Indianapolis.

The races are restricted to Indiana-breds by registered Indiana stallions and are worth a total of $650,000. There also are two $55,000 overnight stakes for Thoroughbreds on the card and six stakes for Quarter Horses.

Trainer Mike Maker is looking for similar bounce-back efforts from two runners in a pair of $200,000 statebred stakes on Empire Showcase Day at Aqueduct. My Mane Squeeze will return from a two-month layoff in the Iroquois, while The Wine Steward will switch back to dirt with a strong chance in the Hudson.

Trainer Horacio De Paz has enjoyed a nice year with his New York-bred turf division, and Saturday’s Empire Showcase Day gives the stable one more opportunity for more stakes success in 2025.

DePaz has strong contenders in all three of the $200,000 statebred turf stakes being run Saturday – Twenty Six Black in the inaugural New York Turf Sprint Championship, Sounds Like a Plan in the the Mohawk for males, and Awesome Czech in the Ticonderoga for females.

It will be several weeks before trainers Brian Lynch and Todd Pletcher ship the bulk of their stables south for the winter. But the two northern-based horsemen have sent in a couple of promising 2-year-old fillies likely to vie for favoritism going a mile on turf Saturday at Gulfstream Park in the $75,000 Our Dear Peggy Stakes.

Lynch will be represented in the Our Dear Peggy by the undefeated Storm’s Wake. Pletcher will counter with Miss Picky, who gets some class relief after finishing a tiring 10th earlier this month in the Grade 2 Miss Grillo at Aqueduct.