DEL MAR, Calif. – Desert Gate is not the fastest nor most expensive 2-year-old colt trained this season by Bob Baffert. That would actually be Brant, the $3 million colt who earned a 101 Beyer Speed Figure in his debut.

However, Desert Gate was the first juvenile colt Baffert started this year. And on Saturday at Del Mar, Desert Gate is the star while Brant is in his stall.

Desert Gate is favored in the Grade 3 Best Pal Stakes based on his sharp debut. The 86 Beyer earned by Desert Gate is short of Brant’s triple-digit figure, but 86 should suffice.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Trainer Graham Motion said he looked for a reason not to run Laurelin in Saturday’s Grade 2, $500,000 Saratoga Oaks Invitational. When he couldn’t find one, he entered the undefeated 3-year-old filly to make her graded stakes debut against a compact lineup featuring the Grade 1-placed Opulent Restraint and just four other rivals going 1 3/16 miles on the turf.

After a dreadful stakes debut last month, 2-year-old colt Street Player seems poised to make a more determined effort in the $75,000 Proud Man Stakes on Saturday at Gulfstream Park. Rain could compromise him again, but at least the skies should be clear of pyrotechnics.

The night before the $100,000 Prairie Gold Juvenile, Street Player did not look the part of a contender as fireworks exploded across the sky above him. He was fractious in his stall and terribly frightened by nearby Fourth of July celebrations. Racing was the furthest thing from his mind.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Owner-breeder Ivan Dalos, Eclipse champion Ghostzapper, and trainer Mike Doyle were among the 2025 inductees into the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame during a ceremony at the Mississauga Convention Center in suburban Toronto on Wednesday night.

It’s hard to imagine a much better spot for Be Your Best to land her third graded stakes this year than the Beverly D. That’s why connections decided to scratch the mare from the Ballston Spa on Friday at Saratoga and ship her to Colonial Downs for the Grade 2, $500,000 Beverly D. on Saturday.

DEL MAR, Calif. – California’s ever-changing female turf division reappears Saturday at Del Mar in the Grade 2 Yellow Ribbon Handicap. So, whose turn is it this time?

Since December, seven middle-distance graded stakes for local turf fillies and mares produced seven different winners, including two who are entered in the $200,000 Yellow Ribbon, race 9.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Trainer Mark Casse sends out the imposing favorites Shifty and Winterberry in Saturday’s $250,000 Bison City Stakes, the middle leg of the Canadian Triple Tiara for Canadian-bred 3-year-old fillies at Woodbine.

Five of the six entrants are exiting the opening leg of the Tiara triple, the July 20 Woodbine Oaks, including Shifty and Winterberry, both of whom are owned by D. J. Stable.

Gulfstream Park will host two maiden special weights for juvenile fillies on Friday, and trainers Mark Casse and Saffie Joseph Jr. seem prepared with live debuting runners. Both trainers have been shipping young horses around the country this summer, but they still have contenders close to home.

Miss Soothsayer will make her first start for Casse in the second race on Friday, a $70,000 maiden special weight at a mile on turf. The unique condition provides trainers the opportunity to give horses an early distance test.

A sleepy Friday card at Ellis Park? Not quite.

Friday’s 10-race program (first post 11:50 a.m. Central) offers purses, including Kentucky-bred supplements, worth about $769,000. The card includes three $100,000 maiden special weights, a first-level dirt -sprint allowance, a second-level turf-route allowance, and a basic third-level turf-sprint allowance.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Excellent Truth and She Feels Pretty, separated by a head in the Grade 1 Diana on July 12, will be going their separate ways for their next starts.