ETOBICOKE, Ontario – The Brazilian champion Raptor’s makes his North American debut off a year-long layoff going a mile on the main turf in Thursday’s featured conditioned allowance with an $80,000 claiming option at Woodbine.

Raptor’s won 4 of 8 starts in his homeland, including the Group 1 Brazilian Derby last year. In an 18-horse field last June that included seven Group 1 winners, the now 5-year-old prevailed after a stretch-long battle going about 1 1/2 miles in the Group 1 Grande Premio Brasil. 

Magic Tiger had a terrific 2023 season at Assiniboia and should be dangerous in his second start off the sidelines in Wednesday’s $50,000 Free Press Stakes at six furlongs for 3-year-olds and up.

After coming up from Golden Gate to join trainer Wendy Anderson’s local string in spring 2023, Magic Tiger promptly won two allowance/optional claimers in a row over seven furlongs. When cutting back to six furlongs in last year’s Free Press, his rally came up a neck short while third in a nine-horse field.

When he came to Monmouth Park from New York as a 2-year-old, Noted beat the horse who would win the 2024 Belmont Stakes, Dornoch. When he returns to Monmouth for the $100,000 Tale of the Cat Stakes on Sunday, Noted must prove he can beat any legitimate 3-year-old turf stakes horse.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Kant Hurry Love is the defending champion in Sunday’s $125,000 Dancin Renee Stakes at Aqueduct and comes into the 2024 renewal off a big effort when a narrowly beaten second against open company in the Correction Stakes in her most recent start. But her trainer, David Duggan, is realistic enough to know his filly is still going to need to find a little something more if she’s to make it back-to-back victories in the six-furlong dash for New York-bred fillies and mares.

Last weekend at Hawthorne, on June 16, the Michele Boyce-trained mare Katie M’lady took an early lead and never relinquished it, winning a female-restricted Illinois-bred turf route handicap over the Chris Block-trained favorite, Oeuvre.

One Sunday later, the same thing can happen in the $75,000 Buck’s Boy Handicap, a turf mile for older Illinois-breds.

Beth’s Dream has mastered the mile distance at Gulfstream Park, and her local record is one of several key factors she has in her favor Sunday when she takes on highweight Maryquitecontrary in the track’s $75,000 My Pal Chrisy.

The overnight handicap is for fillies and mares. Grade 2 winner Maryquitecontrary is the 124-pound highweight, with Beth’s Dream weighted second at 123. The field of seven also includes Charlie’s Wish, winner of last year’s Azalea who is weighted at 119.

Dontlookbackatall looks well-spotted in Parx Racing’s Power By Far for fillies and mares at five furlongs on turf.

The Power By Far is the co-feature on the Monday program with another $100,000 turf stakes for Pennsylvania-breds, the Crowd Pleaser for 3-year-olds at 1 1/16 miles.

The favorites look strong in both the $50,000 Ontario County Stakes and $50,000 Niagara Stakes for New York-bred 3-year-olds, the co-features on Monday’s program at Finger Lakes. 

Although both races are six-furlong sprints, they could conceivably produce starters for two of the track’s biggest events next month – the $150,000 New York Derby and $75,000 New York Oaks, both at 1 1/16 miles on July 15. With no other dirt sprint stakes for the divisions this summer, New York-bred 3-year-olds will either need to switch surfaces or move to two turns at Saratoga.

He has started in a dirt sprint, turf sprint, and a turf route in his last three starts, and will return to a dirt sprint Sunday at Los Alamitos.

A variety of surfaces and distances does not seem to affect Final Storm, who has already won on turf and dirt in his brief career.

Trained by Phil D’Amato, Final Storm will start in an allowance race for California-breds at 5 1/2 furlongs, the last event on a nine-race program that begins at 1 p.m. Pacific.

The North American breeze-up sale season comes to an end with next week’s Fasig-Tipton Midlantic June sale of 2-year-olds in training, the second edition of a sale working to establish a foothold in a solid regional marketplace.