Smoked out on June 28, a pair of Indiana-bred sprint stakes are back on Horseshoe Indianapolis’s Wednesday racing program.

ELMONT, N.Y. – It would appear that Bill Parcells has been asked a lot lately about his new trainer Melanie Giddings.

“Melanie Giddings is more popular than Taylor Swift,” said Parcells, the Hall of Fame football coach.

When it comes to the Parcells-owned 3-year-old filly Maple Leaf Mel, no one could fault Giddings if she was to be heard singing a few bars of the Swift hit “You Belong With Me.”

At the halfway point of this season, record-setting Into Mischief is again leading the North American sire standings, chasing a fifth consecutive general sire title. Meanwhile, behind him, Triple Crown winner American Pharoah and two-time Horse of the Year Curlin lead a tight pack of accomplished stallions fighting for the other placings as they fashion fine seasons.

ELMONT, N.Y. – Runaway Rumour did everything but win the Mount Vernon Stakes five weeks ago, getting run down late by favored Marvelous Maude and losing by a nose in the stakes for New York-bred females at Belmont Park.

Tuesday, with Marvelous Maude sitting this one out, Runaway Rumour figures to inherit the favorite’s role in the inaugural running of the $125,000 Port Washington Stakes at Belmont. The 1 1/16-mile turf race drew a field of six, including one entrant for the main track.

When Elm Drive won the Grade 3 Monrovia Stakes at 6 1/2 furlongs on April 8 at Santa Anita, she broke from the rail, stalked the early pace, and won by slightly less than a length while making her start since September.

It turns out the Monrovia Stakes was a dress rehearsal for Tuesday’s Grade 2 Great Lady M. Stakes for fillies and mares at 6 1/2 furlongs at Los Alamitos.

Elm Drive has drawn the rail in a field of nine and is highly likely to have a stalking trip in the opening furlongs of the $200,000 race.

“She will be very tactical,” trainer Phil D’Amato said.

Sir London, unraced since a fourth-place finish in the Grade 3 Robert Lewis Stakes at Santa Anita in February 2022, will have his 4-year-old debut in an allowance race Monday at Los Alamitos.

Sir London will go from a hot Triple Crown prep to a highly competitive allowance race at 6 1/2 furlongs.

ELMONT, N.Y. – Trainer Danny Gargan was perplexed why his horse, Dakota Gold, was so far back in the early stages of the May 29 Kingston Stakes, a race in which he ultimately finished third, beaten a half-length.

“I didn’t expect him to be sitting way last,” Gargan said. “I don’t know why he was back there. But I thought he ran unbelievable to make up that ground.”

Looking at the field for Monday’s $125,000 Hudson Valley Stakes at Belmont Park, Gargan said it may not be so bad for Dakota Gold to be back early on in a field with several early speed types.

Gold Rush Junior will step in against $15,000 claimers in an attempt to rekindle his 2022 form in Monday’s featured race at Emerald Downs.

Owned by John Parker, Gold Rush Junior last year easily won his lone start outside of stakes competition as a 2-year-old. He had made his debut in the Kings County Express at Emerald, finishing fourth, and then completed his three-race campaign with a distant fifth in the Washington Cup Juvenile.

Fillies who competed well in stakes last fall as juveniles at Finger Lakes meet in the $50,000 Niagara Stakes on Tuesday. The six-furlong sprint for 3-year-old New York-bred fillies highlights a nine-race July 4 holiday card at the Farmington, N.Y., track that begins at 1:15 p.m. Eastern.

ELMONT, N.Y. – Belmont Stakes winner Arcangelo has been in Saratoga for a few weeks now and while he’s in regular training he has not yet returned to the work tab.

Trainer Jena Antonucci said Friday that Arcangelo could have his first work back the middle of next week. While Antonucci said nothing is set in stone, she indicated as though training up to the Travers on Aug. 26 is the initial plan.

“Obviously, we know the Dandy and Travers are sitting there, there would likely be a heavier focus to the Travers than the Dandy,” Antonucci said.