ELMONT, N.Y. – The Foxes should find the distance and the company to his liking when he heads a field of 11 in Saturday’s Grade 1, $750,000 Belmont Derby Invitational at Belmont Park. Now, if someone could just do something about these temperatures.

The connections of The Foxes expressed a little concern with the heat Thursday morning after The Foxes had an open gallop over the inner turf course. Daily Racing Form timed The Foxes going three furlongs in 39.38 seconds though this wasn’t an official workout.

Two months after they were thwarted by circumstances at the Kentucky Derby, two of the top colts in California start over Saturday at Los Alamitos.

Reincarnate and Skinner, Derby pace casualty and Derby scratch, meet for the first time in the $125,000 Los Alamitos Derby, a nine-furlong race dominated by one particular stable. While the feud between Churchill Downs and Bob Baffert lingers, Los Alamitos is a virtual red carpet.

Munnys Gold was undefeated, untested, and seemingly invincible when Red Carpet Ready defeated her in game fashion in the Grade 2 Eight Belles on Oaks Day at Churchill Downs. On Saturday, Red Carpet Ready will face not one but two such opponents, Maple Leaf Mel and Dazzling Blue, when returning to Belmont Park for the second time in four weeks as part of an outstanding field of 3-year-old fillies in the $175,000 Victory Ride Stakes.

With a victory over Belmont Stakes winner Arcangelo on his résumé, Aaraj is sure to draw plenty of attention despite stretching out around two turns for the first time in Saturday’s $51,000 allowance feature at Gulfstream Park. The mile and 70-yard test for 3-year-olds is the first of two allowance races on the card to be decided over the Tapeta course along with a five-furlong dash that lured a field of 10 older horses topped by the speedy Chilean-bred Zarak.

ELMONT, N.Y. – Mission of Joy is one tough trip away from being undefeated on turf, which is why she is the 2-1 morning-line favorite and very much the horse to beat in Saturday’s Grade 1, $500,000 Belmont Oaks Invitational for 3-year-old fillies.

There could be a decent pace in the Grade 3, $300,000 Cornhusker Handicap Saturday night at Prairie Meadows and such a scenario would benefit co-highweights Skippylongstocking and Frosted Grace, as well as local favorite Ain’t Life Grand.

The Cornhusker, which is for 3-year-olds and up over 1 1/8 miles, is one of four stakes on the final night of the Iowa Festival of Racing. Purses for the stakes total $875,000.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Patches O’Houlihan has a long way to go to match the accomplishments of another Robert Tiller trainee, Pink Lloyd, but he’s already shown more at this stage of his career than that Canadian champion sprinter, who didn’t debut until age 4.

Patches O’Houlihan meets stakes winner Poulin in O T in Saturday’s Lake Huron at Woodbine, one of two $100,000 Ontario-sired stakes for 3-year-olds on the card, along with the Georgian Bay for fillies. Both are five-furlong inner turf sprints that make up the opening leg of the Ontario Sire Heritage Series.

Dirt Road Red will seek his fourth win in a row when facing seven foes in the Saturday night $25,000 claiming feature at Emerald Downs. The son of Clubhouse Ride leads all horses in number of wins during the current season with three while he is just a nose away from a fourth.

The Justin Evans trainee drew the rail for the six-furlong contest, and rider Alex Cruz will likely have to select a strategy for stalking the pace and getting out for Dirt Road Red’s usual rally.

The trainer Larry Rivelli and Vince Foglia’s Patricia’s Hope LLC came close to winning the Kentucky Derby on May 6, but earlier on the Derby Day card at Churchill Downs, overshadowed by Two Phil’s’ excellent runner-up Derby finish, Rivelli and Patricia’s Hope did win the Grade 2 Turf Sprint. While Two Phil’s has been injured and retired, Turf Sprint winner Nobals swings back into action in the $100,000 William Garrett Handicap on Friday at Horseshoe Indianapolis.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Arcangelo returned to the work tab for the first time since his victory in the Belmont Stakes on June 10, breezing five furlongs in 58.61 seconds per Daily Racing Form over a fast main track Wednesday at Saratoga.