Ambiente Friendly, second in the Group 1 English Derby earlier this month, was supplemented to Sunday’s Group 1 Irish Derby at The Curragh for the steep fee of $107,000 earlier this week.

To win one of Europe’s leading prizes for 3-year-olds, Ambiente Friendly has a task that will resonate with American sports fans outside of Southern California: Beat L.A.

Los Angeles, a colt trained by Aidan O’Brien, was the second pick in early betting as of Friday at 7-4, behind favored Ambiente Friendly at 5-4.

Sunbird heads the cast in the $50,000 Lieutenant Governors Handicap as part of a Monday stakes doubleheader at Hastings on Canada Day. The card also includes the $50,000 Monashee Handicap for fillies and mares. Both races are 1 1/16 miles.

Sunbird, who is owned by Pauline Felicella and the Estate of Nick Felicella, will make his first route attempt of 2024 in the Lieutenant Governors.

A day after the 4-year-old colt Disarm had a chance to move into the upper echelon of the older horse division in the Stephen Foster Stakes, his stablemate, the 4-year-old colt Extra Anejo, can take a similar step in the $300,000 Hanshin, one of five stakes Sunday, closing day of the Churchill Downs spring meet.

Disarm made it to the Travers last August, finishing second, before going to the sidelines, while an injury cut short Extra Anejo’s 3-year-old season after a fourth-place Haskell finish in July. Both colts won comeback races this spring at Churchill.

Godsend is the horse to beat in Sunday’s first-level allowance/optional-claiming feature over 6 1/2 furlongs at Emerald Downs.

Godsend, owned by Stan Munro and trained by Justin Evans, is the the horse to beat on Sunday after stablemate Neiman returned from their last race to win the Budweiser Stakes on June 23.

Godsend last started June 1 in similar conditions at six furlongs, finishing second by 1 1/2 lengths. Neiman, who was the winner of that race, earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 69 in that allowance before winning the Budweiser with a robust 86 Beyer.

At odds of 8-1, Raging Torrent won a first-level allowance race May 4 at Churchill Downs by eighth lengths. He won’t be catching anyone by surprise Sunday in the $175,000 Maxfield Stakes.

Not with one of the fastest 3-year-old races of the year, at least according to Beyer Speed Figures, glittering on his form. Raging Torrent ran seven furlongs in 1:21.13, good for a 104 Beyer, and appeared to do so with ease while leaving some good horses bobbing in his wake.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Hunt Master scratched out of Saturday’s Grade 2 Highlander at Woodbine in favor of Sunday’s featured conditioned allowance with a $50,000 claiming option, probably a wise move.

Hunt Master, who was 20-1 on the morning line in the Highlander, has a much better chance going six furlongs on the main turf Sunday, his first outing since November.

After participating in the 2022 Canadian Triple Crown, Hunt Master found his calling as a sprinter/miler on turf when narrowly beaten in the restricted Lake Superior Stakes.

GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas – Ova Charged will be returning to turf on Saturday and Hoosier Philly will be trying the surface for the first time during separate Texas Turf Festival stakes at Lone Star Park.

They are among the most accomplished runners on a 10-race card that features four turf stakes worth a cumulative $625,000. Ova Charged has won six straight stakes and owns the year’s highest Beyer Speed Figure of 113. Hoosier Philly is a Grade 2 winner of more than $850,000.

Neat will look to rebound from a disappointing performance in the Grade 2 American Turf when he takes on five fellow 3-year-olds in Saturday’s Grade 3, $250,000 Manila Stakes scheduled for one mile over Aqueduct’s inner turf course.

Neat, a son of Constitution trained by Rob Atras, had won four consecutive turf races, including the Grade 3 Transylvania at Keeneland, before his seventh-place finish in the American Turf. Atras didn’t have a major excuse for Neat’s effort that day, though it was a month after his career-best effort winning the Transylvania by a nose.

Top Harbor has been a mainstay in the Northern California sprint division, winning five stakes in the last four years.

The Alameda County Fair in Pleasanton has been pivotal to that success. A winner of 3 of 4 starts at Pleasanton, Top Harbor makes his 2024 debut in Saturday’s $50,000 Oak Tree Sprint at six furlongs, a race he won last year and nearly won in 2021.

To succeed this year, Top Harbor races against a daunting rival in Clovisconnection, a five-time stakes winner who is expected to set the pace.