Provost appears to be the horse to beat in Friday’s six-furlong feature race for $25,000 claimers at Emerald Downs. The gelded son of Street Boss was claimed two starts ago by leading trainer Justin Evans, and there was a quick return on the investment by virtue of a win at the $10,000 claiming level on June 9.

Of his $8,000 claim, trainer Evans said, “Provost is a horse that we really like and who has taken well to our program. My plan was to cut him back in distance and see if he would finish with a big run, which worked out really well.”

Skinner, unraced since a third-place finish in the Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby on April 8, is scheduled to start in the $125,000 Los Alamitos Derby at Los Alamitos on July 8 as a prep for more prominent national stakes later in the summer.

“If we want to do something ambitious, we need to get a race,” trainer John Shirreffs said on Sunday.

Shirreffs mentioned the Grade 2 Jim Dandy Stakes at 1 1/8 miles at Saratoga on July 29 as potential goal for Skinner. The Los Alamitos Derby is also run at 1 1/8 miles.

Lifelovenlaughter will be making a couple of notable changes Thursday when she starts as one of the top contenders in the eighth race at Belmont Park.

Livelovenlaughter is moving back into the straight 3-year-old ranks for the first-level allowance for fillies at 1 1/16 miles on the inner turf. She also will be adding blinkers for the race following a fifth-place finish in a first-level allowance May 20 at Pimlico.

ARCADIA, Calif. – Grand Slam Smile, winner of Saturday’s $98,000 Fasig-Tipton Debutante for 2-year-old fillies at Santa Anita, is a California-bred filly who could start at Del Mar in statebred stakes or graded stakes.

Trained by Steve Specht for owners and breeders Larry and Marianne Williams, Grand Slam Smile is unbeaten in two starts. She won her debut in a maiden race at 4 1/2 furlongs on the synthetic main track on May 14 at Golden Gate Fields, and closed from third in a field of four in the Fasig-Tipton Debutante at five furlongs on dirt to win by a half-length.

ARCADIA, Calif. – Overlooked at 20-1, Tranche forced attention when he stormed through the stretch to win the $100,000 Fasig-Tipton Futurity for 2-year-olds at five furlongs by 7 1/4 lengths on Saturday at Santa Anita.

“I was surprised,” trainer Luis Mendez reflected Sunday. “I thought we had a chance of winning, but not that way.”

Last June, Coltrane won the richest race of his career in the $121,000 Ascot Stakes at Royal Ascot, a handicap at 2 1/2 miles and one of the lesser staying races of the five-day meeting in Britain.

Coltrane spent the rest of 2022 enhancing his reputation with a win the Group 2 Doncaster Cup at 2 1/4 miles and two second-place finishes in Group 2 races for stayers.

As the late champion Arrogate’s legacy as a sire continues to grow, Saratoga Secret is set to become another of the early starters from his final crop in Friday’s second race at Ellis, a $120,000 maiden special weight for 2-year-old fillies.

Saratoga Secret, trained by D. Wayne Lukas for BC Stables, was a $200,000 purchase at the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga selected yearling sale. She will have Luis Saez aboard in the field of eight first-time starters.

Thursday’s card opens the race week at Ellis Park and also is the career opener for some pricey 2-year-olds.

The second race on the nine-race card is a $120,000 maiden special weight for juveniles. Daily Grind was a $1.35 million purchase by D. Wayne Lukas, on behalf of BC Stables, at last summer’s Fasig-Tipton Saratoga selected yearling sale. The Medaglia d’Oro colt, who has been training steadily at Churchill Downs, is out of Grade 3 winner Walk Close, by emerging broodmare sire Tapit. That makes Daily Grind a full brother to 2019 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile runner-up Anneau d’Or.

One in Vermillion will be looking for the fifth stakes win of his young career Wednesday night, when he makes his turf debut in the $100,000 Canterbury Derby as part of the Northern Stars Turf Festival at Canterbury Park.

The one-mile race is one of six stakes on the card. The races are worth a total of $450,000.