The odds were already stacked against the European shipper Heart of Honor going into the Preakness Stakes at Pimlico. But any chance the horse may have had was hampered when he acted up some in the gate and broke slowly away from it.

Heart of Honor finished fifth, beaten 8 3/4 lengths by Journalism, in the nine-horse field. It was a respectable enough effort for trainer Jamie Osborne to continue on toward the June 7 Belmont Stakes.

In a standard third-level turf route allowance with a $100,000 claiming option, the conditions of the featured seventh race Thursday at Churchill Downs, Northern Invader would come up an odds-on favorite.

Finally getting Shaq Diesel back on the winning track Saturday at Gulfstream Park after a 13-month dry spell was special enough for trainer David Fawkes. But doing so with a victory in the Big Drama Stakes made the moment all the more memorable, Fawkes admitted in the aftermath of the race.

“I think I’ve been close in this race a couple of times but as far as I can recall, this is the first time I’ve ever won it,” said Fawkes, who guided Big Drama through his Eclipse Award-winning campaign in 2010. “To finally do it was pretty cool. It meant a lot to me.”

ARCADIA, Calif. – An hour after Seismic Beauty’s dominant win in Sunday’s Grade 2 Santa Margarita Stakes at Santa Anita, syndicate manager Joe Moran stood beaming near the track’s paddock.

Moran, 30, had watched the 4-year-old Seismic Beauty take command of the $200,000 Santa Margarita Stakes at the start and lead throughout, sailing to a five-length win in her stakes debut.

“She’s 4 and just getting going,” Moran said.

ARCADIA, Calif. – Iron Man Cal, second in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf at Del Mar last November, but sixth in the Grade 1 American Turf Stakes at Churchill Downs on May 3 in his first race this year, is scheduled to start in the $100,000 Oceanside Stakes at Del Mar on July 18.

The gap between the $1 million American Turf and the restricted Oceanside is not ideal, trainer Phil D’Amato said over the weekend at Santa Anita.

“I wish there was a race at the end of the meet [at Santa Anita],” he said.

Don Combs, who trained 1970 Kentucky Derby winner Dust Commander, died Sunday at age 86 in his native Lexington, Ky. The cause of death was a stroke, according to the Thoroughbred Daily News, which first reported his death.

Dust Commander was purchased as a yearling by Robert and Verna Lehmann, who had bought a farm in Kentucky a few years prior. The Illinois-bred was originally trained by Billy Turner before being moved to Combs in September of his 2-year-old season. Combs, 31, had hung out his own shingle just three years prior, and operated a public stable at Keeneland.

American Flag, who won the 1925 Belmont Stakes, is from one of the most successful sirelines in that classic’s history. But it was through his daughters, not his sons, that American Flag left his legacy to the breed.

A century after his Belmont victory, he is linked to this year’s Kentucky Derby winner, Sovereignty, as well as a number of other prospects for the 2025 Belmont Stakes.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Turf racing returns to Woodbine on Thursday with one race scheduled for each course on a solid eight-race card.

Work on the revitalization of the main turf began last fall with the reinforcement of the tunnel that leads to the main track. A small section of the course was removed and resodded.

The main turf will be restricted to six- and 6 1/2-furlong sprints until mid to late June. It will be shut down following King’s Plate weekend (Aug. 16-17) until next year for further resodding on the backstretch.