Spinelli will launch what could be an exciting summer campaign Sunday when she returns from a two-month freshening in the eighth race at Gulfstream Park.

She’s part of a field of 10 fillies and mares for a first-level allowance over 5 1/2 furlongs on Tapeta. The group includes a handful of promising 3-year-old fillies, like Spinelli and Ocala Gala, as well as some seasoned racemares like Mywifeknowsitall, Vuela Paloma, and Denver Alley.

Horses climbing through allowance conditions inevitably hit a wall at some point, but Majorca has not met his match just yet. The 4-year-old gelding has won three straight races at Laurel Park and will ship to Parx Racing for a $52,000 allowance on Monday.

The first half of the season for high-level 3-year-olds comes to an end Saturday at Saratoga with the Belmont Stakes. The second half begins Sunday at Churchill Downs with the Matt Winn Stakes.

The 1 1/16-mile Matt Winn provides a bridge to the Haskell at Monmouth Park and the Jim Dandy at Saratoga, which both lead to the Travers and into autumn. The Winn is a race for unproven horses like Taptastic to join the division’s elite and an opportunity for Derby also-rans who didn’t go to the Belmont, like Further Ado, to march into summer.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – In three wins since mid-November, Slay the Day has led or disputed the pace in sprints. The same style could be key to a potential second stakes win in Sunday’s Grade 3 Soaring Softly Stakes for 3-year-old fillies at 5 1/2 furlongs on turf at Saratoga.

“She’ll leave there running and you want to leave her where she’s comfortable,” trainer Brian Lynch said.

Bob Baffert, the day after the Kentucky Oaks, seemed legitimately surprised that Explora lost the race. That’s the kind of regard Baffert has for Explora.

Not thrilled with the prospect of going from the 1 1/8-mile Oaks to another 1 1/8-mile race, the Acorn at Saratoga, Baffert kept Explora at Churchill. If she runs to her trainer’s expectations, Explora ought to win the $225,000 Leslie’s Lady Stakes on Sunday. She cuts back from three route races to a seven-furlong contest around one turn, and that might prove to be a good thing.

ARCADIA, Calif. – A competitive turf allowance with stakes implications has replaced the previously scheduled $100,000 Desert Stormer Stakes as Sunday’s featured eighth race at Santa Anita after the stakes was canceled due to insufficient entries.

The cancellation was not unexpected. The Desert Stormer, a sprint stakes for fillies and mares, was hanging on by a thread. It drew four, four, six, and three starters in its last four editions. This year, only four horses were nominated. Track officials have rewritten the race as an extra for Thursday, June 11.

Aidan O’Brien a year ago became the first trainer in modern history to win the Derby three years in a row. Saturday at Epsom Downs, he has four horses, including the early favorite, to make it four.

British bookmakers Thursday offered Benvenuto Cellini at about 2-1, a solid but far from an overwhelming favorite among a group of 14 entered in the 1 1/2-mile classic over Epsom’s unique, challenging course.

The course itself and course conditions, which figure no better than soft, will play a major role, perhaps particularly for the favorite.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Corsia Veloce, the unbeaten Canadian champion 2-year-old filly, makes her season debut over seven furlongs in Saturday’s $125,000 Fury Stakes for Canadian-bred 3-year-old fillies at Woodbine.

Trained by Josie Carroll, Corsia Veloce won her debut sprinting on the Tapeta last July and then doubled up in the Catch a Glimpse Stakes on the main turf in August. She went to the sidelines after taking the Grade 1 Natalma in September, a one-mile inner turf route that was a Breeders’ Cup Win and You’re In qualifier.

Trainer Kay Cooper got her first win of the young Emerald Downs meet last Saturday when the 4-year-old filly Kir Royale went gate to wire for a three-quarter-length win in an $8,000 claiming race, earning a career-best Beyer Speed Figure of 63.

Bolero Bay must overcome post 10 on Saturday when he seeks to win his third consecutive race in a competitive renewal of the $100,000 Not Surprising at Gulfstream Park.

The 1 1/16-mile route for 3-year-olds on Tapeta is one of three stakes on an 11-race card that begins at 12:50 p.m. Eastern. It’s counterpart for fillies is the $100,000 Martha Washington. The card also features 3-year-olds and up sprinting on dirt in the $100,000 Big Drama.