Trikari stepped up to graded stakes competition for the first time in May and won the American Turf at Churchill Downs as a 47-1 shot. The upset was no fluke. Trikari subsequently finished third, beaten a neck in the Penn Mile, before winning the Grade 1 Belmont Derby, and he’ll be no worse than a strong second choice Sunday at Colonial Downs in the Grade 2, $500,000 Secretariat, a one-mile grass race for 3-year-olds.

A year ago, the Northern California yearling and horses of racing age sale was held at Pleasanton mere weeks after the announcement that Golden Gate Fields was soon to be closed.

Despite a turbulent time, demand for yearlings was strong with a higher average price compared to the 2022 auction.

Last August, the Woodbine-based mare Fev Rover shipped into Colonial Downs following a strong showing in the Diana Stakes at Saratoga and won the Beverly D. She’s back for a repeat bid Sunday, but a younger and presently more potent Canadian has the Beverly D. in her sight.

The $175,000 Ellis Park Debutante has been a solid early proving ground for 2-year-old fillies since it was reinstated to the Henderson, Ky. track’s stakes schedule in 2017. Several of the winners have continued on to stakes success as 3-year-olds and older horses, including 2019 Kentucky Oaks winner Serengeti Empress and her fellow graded stakes-winning millionaire Crazy Beautiful. Last year’s Debutante winner, Hot Beach, is already a stakes winner this year.

Lady Mia has been a reliable favorite as a rule and on Sunday she could be the chalk in the $100,000 Incredible Revenge at Monmouth Park.

The race features fillies and mares at five furlongs on turf. It has drawn a field of nine, including main-track-only entrant Pacific Rose and defending winner All That Magic. Love Appeals, Bosserati, and Shoshanah are all cross-entered in the $150,000 Andy Guest at 5 1/2 furlongs on turf Sunday at Colonial Downs.

Defending winner Five Star General is the one to beat in Sunday’s $150,000 Longacres Mile at Emerald Downs. Owned by Elttaes Stable, Five Star General drew post 9 and will make his fifth consecutive start in the jewel of the Pacific Northwest.

The Grant Forster trainee was second in 2020, third in both the 2021 and 2022 editions, and reached the pinnacle with a 1 1/2-length win under jockey Joe Bravo as the betting favorite last year. Bravo will return to accept the mount Sunday.

Shug McGaughey and the Arlington Million have a history.

McGaughey, stabled at Arlington Park during his third full year as a head trainer, watched the inaugural 1981 Million in person.

“John Henry and The Bart. Photo was too close to call,” McGaughey said.

Twelve years later, McGaughey had Lure, the two-time Breeders’ Cup Mile winner, entered in the 1993 Million.

“He was 8-5 in the program, and I had to scratch him. It rained like a son of a gun. The turf was really soft,” McGaughey said.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario—Tito’s Calling takes on the boys over 1 1/4 miles on the main turf in Sunday’s featured conditioned allowance with an $80,000 claiming option at Woodbine.

Trained by Mike DePaulo, Tito’s Calling captured last year’s $250,000 Wonder Where Stakes, the third leg of the Canadian Triple Tiara, over the same course and distance as Sunday’s race. She went on to finish a respectable fifth against males in the final Canadian Triple Crown contest, the 1 1/2-mile Breeders’ Stakes.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Fasig-Tipton’s Humphrey S. Finney Pavilion and sale grounds, just down East Avenue from the main gate of Saratoga Race Course, see action again Sunday and Monday with the company’s New York-bred preferred yearling sale, showcasing what is widely acknowledged as one of the best regional programs in the nation. The grounds have already had a busy week-plus, with Fasig-Tipton’s crew working countless hours behind the scenes to manage the human and equine activity on the roughly six-acre complex.

It’s been a memorable Royal Palm meet for Fly the W and his trainer, Bobby Dibona, and both will be out to add to their stellar Gulfstream Park stats in the eighth race Sunday.

Fly the W will be looking for his fourth win at the meet in the $25,000 starter allowance at 7 1/2 furlongs on turf, while Dibona can build upon his 36 percent win rate that is tops among the meet’s leading trainers. He is 15 for 42.

“Not bad,” Dibona said. “We got a lot of good stuff going on.”