Looks like the perfect spot for Fierceness to get back on track, this Jim Dandy. Outside draw in a short field with a speed horse who might tow him along – ideal circumstances, and Fierceness looks far stronger and robust than he did in Louisville. But the bang for beating Sierra Leone – no easy task – just isn’t worth the buck.

Subrogate came under serious consideration in Saratoga’s second stakes, the Vanderbilt, but I can’t shake the feeling he’ll better suit the seven-furlong Forego than this six-furlong contest in which Skelly, from this vantage point, appears vulnerable.

Whiskey Park will be looking to back up a notable debut win Saturday when he meets a seasoned cast of 3-year-olds that includes Fountain of Youth runner-up Le Dom Bro in the 10th race at Gulfstream Park. The one-mile feature carries an optional claiming price of $75,000.

Whiskey Park won his debut at seven furlongs July 6 at Gulfstream. He trailed early, advanced three wide on the turn, and steadily moved clear of his rivals in the stretch for a four-length win. It came after he overcame some adversity in both the race and leading up to his first career start.

An already disrupted 2024 campaign for Dark Nme, the champion 2-year-old Quarter Horse filly of 2023, has gotten stranger in recent weeks in advance of Saturday’s $750,000 Rainbow Derby at the Downs at Albuquerque.

The Rainbow is typically a mid-July fixture at Ruidoso Downs in southern New Mexico, but the meeting was moved to Albuquerque earlier this week after a series of devastating floods continued to strike Ruidoso Downs. The floods, which created torrents of water, mud and debris, were caused by runoff from nearby mountains scorched by wildfires in mid-June.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Baby Yoda will try to parlay his home-court advantage at Saratoga into the most important victory of his career when he steps back into Grade 1 company for a third time in Saturday’s $350,000 Alfred G. Vanderbilt Stakes.

The six-furlong fixture lured a small but very talented field of six that includes two of the leading members of the sprint division, the speedy Skelly and hard-knocking Nakatomi, who is coming off a troubled third-place finish in the Dubai Golden Shaheen at Meydan.

DEL MAR, Calif. – The lasting significance of first stakes race on Saturday at Del Mar is unclear, but the $100,000 Daisycutter Handicap offers as much handicapping intrigue as the Grade 1 Bing Crosby and Grade 2 San Diego Handicap later on the card.

Nine fillies and mares were entered to go five furlongs on turf in the Daisycutter, race 7, and a case can be made for most. The field includes three Phil D’Amato trainees – Elm Drive, a graded winner and the 123-pound highweight, stakes winner Connie Swingle, and sharp speedster Runninwiththeboyz.

Auguste Rodin holds early favoritism for the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes on Saturday at Ascot – and could hardly run worse than he did as the race favorite a year ago.

Coming off wins in the Derby at Epsom and the Irish Derby, Auguste Rodin no-showed in the 2023 King George, finishing last of 10 as the 9-4 favorite in the Group 1, 1 1/2-mile fixture. On Thursday his antepost odds are 5-4, a considerably shorter price than a year ago, and a dicey proposition on a colt prone to clunkers who faces at least two foes capable of beating him.

DEL MAR, Calif. – Which entrant is vulnerable in the Grade 2 San Diego Handicap on Saturday at Del Mar? Perhaps the entire field is dubious, including Arabian Knight.

The 124-pound topweight against five rivals, Arabian Knight races 1 1/16 miles in the San Diego on the same track where last summer he wired the Grade 1 Pacific Classic. But the best horse faces challenges on Saturday.

Midnight Mascot
Colt by Army Mule – Midnight Embrace, by Midnight Lute
Bred in Ontario by Yvonne Schwabe Thoroughbreds ($200,000 Keeneland September yearling purchase by Manfred and Penny Conrad)

Among this year’s King’s Plate hopefuls, Woodstock Stakes winner Midnight Mascot sports the distinction of counting a recent winner of the Canadian classic as a very close relative.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Is there anyone willing to go with the speedy champion Paramount Prince in the Grade 2 Seagram Cup on Saturday at Woodbine? That’s the question rival trainers are wondering heading into Saturday’s renewal of the $175,000 Tapeta route.

Plate Trial Stakes
July 20, Woodbine
Winner: My Boy Prince
Trainer: Mark Casse
Jockey: Sahin Civaci
Owner: Gary Barber
Beyer Speed Figure: 87