The spring/summer Belmont at the Big A meet, the final meet to be run at historic Aqueduct Racetrack, will begin Thursday with a quiet eight-race card, highlighted by a pair of open-company maiden special weights. In the shadow of great fanfare at Churchill Downs, several trainers still have promising runners with strong chances in New York.

The first race of the meet will be an $85,000 maiden special weight for at a mile on dirt, featuring four 3-year-old fillies and the 4-year-old Tejanita. Trainer Chad Brown has two entered in the short field.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Balnikhov hasn’t raced at a mile in two years and has only won two of his last 22 starts over the past three years. Still, there are some things to like about the 7-year-old gelding in Thursday’s $350,000 Opening Verse Stakes at Churchill Downs.

First, there is a chance of rain mid-week, and Balnikhov, according to trainer Phil D’Amato, “loves a turf course with a little give in the ground.”

ARCADIA, Calif. – The first 2-year-old race of the spring meet will be run Thursday at Santa Anita, and trainer Steve Knapp is in the middle of it as usual. Knapp starts likely favorite Dream Quest in the 4 1/2-furlong sprint for California-bred maiden fillies, race 2.

The second pick six carryover ($44,113) of the meet also is up for grabs Thursday in races 4 through 9. All six races are claiming or optional-claiming events, including race 7, a turf mile that pits front-runner Sareeha against late-running comebacker Kentucky Gal.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Great White is running on Saturday at Churchill Downs. Trainer John Ennis just doesn’t know yet in what race, or crucially, at what distance.

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Jockey Cristian Torres won arguably the two most important races of his career the afternoon of Feb. 6 at Oaklawn Park.

He captured the Grade 3, $1 million Southwest Stakes aboard Silent Tactic for John Oxley and the $300,000 Martha Washington with Search Party for Tracy Farmer.

Fast forward to this weekend, and the 3-year-olds trained by Hall of Fame horseman Mark Casse will be Torres’s first mounts in the Kentucky Derby and Kentucky Oaks.

It’s a significant achievement for Torres, a 28-year-old native of Puerto Rico who began riding in 2019.

Spendthrift Farm’s orange and purple silks will be carried by just one horse in the Kentucky Derby. But, in addition to focusing on dominant Blue Grass winner Further Ado, the farm’s principals could be forgiven if their eyes stray elsewhere in the big field on Saturday.

Four Kentucky Derby entrants are from the first crops of their respective sires, which could give a big leg up to young stallions still building their résumés.

The four, all in the main body of the field, from the inside of the gate out, are Albus, by Yaupon (who stands at Spendthrift Farm); Danon Bourbon, by Maxfield (Darley); The Puma, by Essential Quality (Darley); and Silent Tactic, by Tacitus (Taylor Made Farm).

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Built had a stellar winter at Fair Grounds, capped by a glittering victory in track-record time last out. He will need to use that heart and, perhaps, that early hoof in a competitive field of older sprinters for Thursday’s $200,000 St. Matthews Overnight Stakes at Churchill Downs, which is restricted to horses who have not won a graded stakes in 2025 or 2026.

“He’s looking very, very good,” trainer Wayne Catalano said. “We’re happy with everything. He’s training good.”

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Churchill Downs won’t host a longer race this week than the $200,000 Isaac Murphy Marathon Stakes on Wednesday. In Parchment Party’s ideal world, the Murphy, a 1 1/2-mile dirt contest, would be even longer.

“He’s good at 1 1/2 miles, but he’s better at 1 3/4 miles,” trainer Bill Mott said.

The 12 furlongs nonetheless should suffice. The morning line lists Parchment Party as the 2-1 favorite, a role he deserves.