SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – The $1.25 million Travers is obviously the highlight of Saturday’s outstanding 14-race program at Saratoga. Although for bettors, the short field and imposing presence of division leader Sovereignty makes the race pale in comparison to the opportunities that present themselves on a challenging undercard featuring four other Grade 1 stakes.

The undercard is topped by the Personal Ensign, which features the local return of reigning Horse of the Year Thorpedo Anna, and an absolutely wide-open renewal of the seven-furlong Allen Jerkens.

Delacroix, getting 10 pounds and a great ride from Ryan Moore, nipped Ombudsman by a neck in the Eclipse Stakes on July 12 at Sandown Park. The weight spread between 3-year-old Delacroix and 4-year-old Ombudsman drops marginally to eight pounds Wednesday in the Group 1 Juddmonte International at York.

John Gosden has trained or co-trained the International winner three of the last seven years, and Gosden, who trains 4-year-old Ombudsman with his son Thady, has proven masterful at bringing later-developers like Ombudsman along at their own pace.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Train the Trainer has generally been regarded as one of the leading members of the New York-bred 3-year-old division, arguably second best behind only multiple Grade 3 winner Mo Plex. But despite being undefeated in three tries against statebred competition, Train the Trainer is expected to face a major challenge from the new kid on the block, the suddenly invincible Iron Dome, when the pair meets for the first time Thursday at Saratoga in the $200,000 Albany Stakes.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – She Feels Pretty, a head winner over European invader Diamond Rain in Saturday’s Grade 1 E.P. Taylor at Woodbine, will be aimed at the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf at Del Mar on Nov. 1.

Trainer Cherie DeVaux said Monday that the coming weeks will decide whether she simply trains She Feels Pretty to that race or runs her once beforehand, perhaps in a spot like the Grade 3, $175,000 Waya Stakes at Aqueduct on Oct. 5.

In an effort to reverse a years-long decline in the California Thoroughbred foal crop, the California Thoroughbred Breeders Association announced three financial incentives on Sunday designed to lure mare owners to invest in breeding in the state.

For mares bred in 2026, the CTBA will pay $1,000 for each registered statebred foal, up to 25 foals per breeder. Breeders must be members of the organization.

DEL MAR, Calif. – Jockey Patrick Valenzuela, who has not ridden since December 2016 but is hoping to make a comeback in coming months, was briefly hospitalized on Sunday after an incident during morning workouts at Del Mar.

Valenzuela was unseated prior to the start of a workout aboard the unraced gelding Fire Mountain, trained by Peter Eurton. Valenzuela was treated and released by midday.

“I’m sore,” Valenzuela said in a brief interview with Daily Racing Form early Sunday afternoon. “I’m relaxing.”

DEL MAR, Calif. – Kopion, the dominant winner of the Grade 1 Derby City Distaff in May but second in her last two starts, worked a half-mile in 47.80 seconds at Del Mar for a fall campaign that has yet to be finalized.

Trainer Richard Mandella said on Sunday that Kopion may run in the Grade 3 Chillingworth Stakes for fillies and mares at 6 1/2 furlongs at Santa Anita on Oct. 4, or may not start until the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint at Del Mar on Nov. 1.

“Our next race might be the Breeders’ Cup,” Mandella said. “She runs well fresh.”

It’s mid-August, and in the birthplace of modern Thoroughbred racing, England, 3-year-olds still get a hefty weight break from older horses in stakes races – seven pounds in the Group 1 International on Wednesday. In Indiana, where sanctioned Thoroughbred racing began in 1995, the talented 3-year-old Chicory Blaze moves from a pair of age-restricted Indiana-bred stakes scores into the $100,000 Bucchero, a turf route in which he meets older rivals. Chicory Blaze carries 123 pounds, while all but one of his chief foes, 4-year-olds and older, tote 124.

DEL MAR, Calif. – The favorites in separate allowance races for California-bred fillies and mares face uncertainty Thursday at Del Mar – Miso Phansy is first time dirt, comebacker Freya is first start back.

The surface switch for Miso Phansy, who’s favored in race 5, is not a worry for trainer Leonard Powell. “She’s worked exceptionally well on the dirt, I think she’s going to adapt very well,” he said.

Miso Phansy meets five rivals, including Issa Court, in the one-mile race.