Tuesday’s Fasig-Tipton California yearling sale will provide a barometer of the West Coast’s bloodstock business in a changing racing environment in the state.

This is the first full year without racing in Northern California, which ceased in December, and the first year in recent memory in which Tuesday’s sale is the only yearling auction in the state. The California Thoroughbred Breeders Association’s Northern California sale that had been held in August in Pleasanton was not conducted this year.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Little Teddy appears to be back in peak form for Sunday’s $100,000 Zadracarta Stakes at Woodbine, and the five-furlong inner turf dash for Ontario-breds could set up for her closing kick.

Trained by Santino DiPaola, Little Teddy defeated familiar rival Olivia Rose when winning the five-furlong Georgian Bay Stakes on the inner course last summer. She began this season in the spring with back-to-back allowance/optional-claiming scores on the Tapeta before ending up a distant second to Olivia Rose in the Ballade Stakes on July 13.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – May Day Ready demonstrated a new running style when she won the Grade 2 Lake Placid Stakes last month at Saratoga. Saturday, May Day Ready may need to revert to her old running style when she starts as the likely favorite in the Grade 3, $175,000 Winter Memories Stakes at Aqueduct.

He may run in the shadow of his stablemate on Saturday, but Barnes is sure to earn respect all his own in the Grade 2, $400,000 Gallant Bob Stakes at Parx Racing.

On a 15-race card featuring the Grade 1 Pennsylvania Derby and Grade 1 Cotillion, Bob Baffert has shipped a pair of 3-year-old colts from the West Coast. Goal Oriented gives the trainer a strong chance in the Pennsylvania Derby later in the day, but his sprinting stablemate could prove to be tougher to beat at six furlongs.

The last time Chunk of Gold raced at Churchill Downs he was a feel-good longshot in the Kentucky Derby. The $2,500 yearling brought first-time Derby connections to Louisville and finished a creditable ninth as a 29-1 longshot.

Returning to Churchill a bit more than four months later, Chunk of Gold has gone from supporting character to star player. He has earned more than $695,218, is now a graded stakes winner, and is the morning-line favorite for Saturday’s $300,000 Bourbon Flight Stakes.

Social Fortress will make her long-awaited 3-year-old debut for new trainer Guadalupe Preciado in the $100,000 Weather Vane Stakes on Saturday at Laurel Park. The front-running filly is leaping right back into stakes company off a layoff of nearly one year.

“She looks like she’s ready to go,” Preciado said. “We’re going to see what we’ve got.”

Road Forever and Strategic Reserve, runaway winners in their only previous starts, will stretch out in distance and step up in company when vying for favoritism against just four other 2-year-olds in Saturday’s Aventura Stakes at Gulfstream Park. The one-mile fixture is the first of three $75,000 stakes to be decided on the 11-race Princess Rooney undercard that also features the Bob Umphrey Turf Sprint and the Ginger Punch.

Finding the winner of the $100,000 Dark Mirage Stakes on Saturday at Los Alamitos requires bettors to apply at least two key elements to the filly-mare dirt mile – basic handicapping and a large dose of forgiveness.

The handicapping is straightforward. The challenge is to forgive top contenders for subpar performances last out. Nothing Like You, a Grade 2 winner, finished third by more than 10 lengths. Ooty, a Group 1 winner in Argentina, finished last by 31 in the same race.

Her air of invincibility a thing of the past, Good Cheer still has time and opportunity to get back in the race for a championship in the 3-year-old filly division. Good Cheer will look to end a two-race losing streak Saturday when she takes on multiple Grade 1 winners Scottish Lassie and La Cara in the Grade 1, $1 million Cotillion at Parx.