A freshened Grand Mo the First could be bound for the Grade 3, $200,000 Dwyer at the Belmont at Aqueduct meet next month if trainer Victor Barboza Jr. likes what he sees from the horse in his works over the next several weeks.

The one-mile race for 3-year-olds is July 6.

Grand Mo the First last raced in the Kentucky Derby, finishing 18th after running third in a pair of preps, the Tampa Bay Derby and Florida Derby.

“He came back to my barn three weeks ago,” Barboza said. “I think he’ll be ready for a race in July. I think the Dwyer is possible.”

Through nine decades, Golden Gate Fields has had a rich history as an integral part of Northern California racing. Here’s a glance at some of the most historic days in advance of the track’s closure on Sunday.

Feb. 1, 1941 – A delayed 33-day meeting begins with a program run on a muddy track. A week later, the second Saturday program turns out to be the final day of the season before it is canceled because of an unsafe surface. All 40 races were run on an off track.

ALBANY, Calif. – Since the early 1990s, well before he attended kindergarten, Dr. Luis Soto would make frequent trips to racetracks in the Bay Area with his father.

“I think the first time I went to the racetrack, I was 3,” Soto said on a recent Saturday.

The Sotos often visited Bay Meadows, in San Mateo, not far from their home. When Bay Meadows closed in 2008, the Sotos stayed with the sport, making excursions across the bridge to Golden Gate Fields, closer to Oakland. A table in the clubhouse on Breeders’ Cup Saturday was an annual event.

Zazen brings a towering Beyer Speed Figure edge back to Emerald Downs and seems the horse to beat in Sunday’s six-furlong allowance feature.

Owned by Sue and Tim Spooner, Zazen returns to the Auburn, Wash., track to face six others on Sunday.

Dan Markle trains the daughter of Grazen who, in recent times, has made a home for herself on the Tapeta surface at Golden Gate Fields. With that venue permanently closing this weekend, Zazen returns to her old stomping grounds where she will meet a number of speed horses in a scenario that should be to her liking.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Sunday’s $125,000 Queenston Stakes at Woodbine is a King’s Plate prep with a terrific nine-horse field. Among those contesting the seven-furlong test for Canadian-bred 3-year-olds are reigning Canadian champion male 2-year-old My Boy Prince and Coronation Futurity victor Babbo.

My Boy Prince and Essex Serpent were entered by trainer Mark Casse, who sent out eventual King’s Plate winner Paramount Prince to finish second in last year’s Queenston.

The first stakes races of the Hastings season, the Emerald Downs and the George Royal, will be run over 6 1/2 furlongs on Saturday. The Emerald Downs will mark a return to stakes competition for Infinite Patience, the four-time defending British Columbia horse of the year who is a perfect 18 for 18 in stakes races run on dirt.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Overcast skies and occasional light drizzle greeted the 10 prospective Belmont Stakes starters Thursday morning at Saratoga, all of whom put in routine gallops, the majority, as usual, taking place over the Oklahoma training track.

Doctor Oscar established himself as the fastest horse on the grounds last season at Canterbury Park by putting up the meet’s three highest Beyer Speed Figures.

He returns to Minnesota on Saturday for the 10,000 Lakes, one of two $50,000 stakes on the card. The Lady Slipper is for fillies and mares. Both races are at six furlongs and restricted to 3-year-olds and up bred in Minnesota.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Before there was MyRacehorse, there was Centennial Farms.

Among the pioneers in Thoroughbred partnerships, Centennial Farms has been in operation more than four decades and campaigned such notable horses as champion sprinter Rubiano, Belmont Stakes winner Colonial Affair, Breeders’ Cup winner Corinthian, and graded stakes winners Wicked Strong, King Cugat, Unified, and Preservationist.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – The last time the Kentucky Derby runner-up won the Belmont Stakes was in 2003 when Empire Maker denied Funny Cide the Triple Crown. Bobby Frankel trained Empire Maker. A then 24-year-old Chad Brown worked for Frankel as an assistant.

“Way down on the totem pole as far as responsibility,” said Brown, who was not at Belmont Park that soggy June day.

Brown, now 45, has climbed to the top of his profession since going out on his own in 2007. He frequently employs lessons learned from Frankel, whose picture adorns the wall of his Belmont Park office.