ARCADIA, Calif. – As an early barometer of class and stamina on turf, the Honeymoon’s over.

Since last year, the $100,000 Honeymoon Stakes for 3-year-old turf fillies lost its graded status and a furlong. The race was downgraded from Grade 3 to listed, and its distance shortened from 1 1/8 miles to a mile.

The modified Honeymoon, race 8, attracted 10 entrants Saturday at Santa Anita. The new, shorter distance benefits Light Won Up, even if the stakes winner has never run long.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Most cases of hiccups are gone before you know it. A minor irritation is an irritation, nonetheless. In racing, a slight setback often gets termed a hiccup. Nothing major. An irritation, nonetheless.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Something had to give when undefeated speedsters Crude Velocity and Englishman met for the first time on the Kentucky Derby undercard in the Grade 2 Pat Day Mile. Crude Velocity remained perfect by registering a comfortable 3 3/4-length victory over pacesetting Englishman, who was easily best of the rest that day.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Renegade didn’t generate the kind of buzz a talented Todd Pletcher-trained 2-year-old typically does when he debuted at Saratoga last August. Certainly, nobody was talking about him after he got beat 18 1/4 lengths by It’s Our Time, who ran a freaky kind of race winning by 17 3/4 lengths.

Pletcher wasn’t discouraged. He had told owner Mike Repole going into the race there was something about this son of Into Mischief that he liked and he wasn’t dismayed afterward.

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 on dirt in the $100,000 Big Drama.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – The sting of defeat in the $20 million Saudi Cup has gradually subsided for trainer Bob Baffert, who saw his best chance to win the world’s richest race fall a length short four months ago in Riyadh.

But the effort Nysos put forth in that race only served to confirm the talent and tenaciousness the 5-year-old has displayed throughout his nine-race career. Saturday, at Saratoga, Nysos seeks to grab one of North America’s most prestigious prizes when he heads a seven-horse field entered in the $1 million Metropolitan Handicap.

Highly Wicked will attempt to remain unbeaten over the Evangeline Downs turf course on Saturday night, when she puts a 7-for-7 local record on the line in the $100,000 Louisiana Legends Turf Distaff.

The race is one of six Louisiana-bred stakes on the card and each is worth $100,000. The divisional races honor Louisiana industry legends, and this year’s group is jockeys Kerwin “Boo Boo” Clark, Eric Guerin, and Abe Hawkins; breeders Joe Adcock and John Franks; and trainer Dale Angelle.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Home from a successful international trip earlier this year, Reef Runner resumes his American career in Saturday’s Grade 1 Jaipur Stakes at Saratoga.

It is not an easy spot for a comeback.

Reef Runner, trained by David Fawkes for owners and breeders Alex and JoAnn Lieblong, is part of a field of 10, all stakes winners.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Book’em Danno and Bentornato accounted for 197 of the 218 ballots cast in the Eclipse Award voting for 2025 champion male sprinter.

Book’em Danno earned 115 votes to Bentornato’s 82, the closest election in all horse categories last year.

The two are seeking to firm up their places at the top of the nation’s sprint division in Saturday’s Grade 3 True North Stakes at 6 1/2 furlongs at Saratoga. Both have something to prove in the $400,000 True North after losses in their first starts of 2026.

If Mia’s Crusade regains form in the $75,000 Spruce Fir Handicap on Saturday at Monmouth Park, she will have the chance to make history. Currently tied for the most New Jersey-bred stakes victories, she could pick up her seventh and take the record outright for trainer Chuck Spina.

Since winning the 2023 edition of the Spruce Fir, Mia’s Crusade has made her mark at home, switching between dirt and turf to make the most of her time against fellow statebreds. She has won 9 of 25 starts and earned nearly $550,000 in purse money.