ELMONT, N.Y. – Of the 3,579 starts trainer Doug Cowans has made since he began training in 1993, only one has come in New York. That was Next Shares, who as a 2-year-old in 2015, finished second in the Grade 2 With Anticipation Stakes at Saratoga.

Thursday, Cowans will make his Belmont Park debut when he sends out Mischievous Rogue in a third-level allowance/optional $80,000 claiming race going six furlongs on turf, which serves as the feature on a nine-race card. First post Thursday is 3:05 p.m.

ELMONT, N.Y. – Forte took a significant step toward getting off the veterinarian’s list and into the Belmont Stakes with a strong workout Saturday morning at Belmont Park.

Under regular rider Irad Ortiz Jr., Forte worked five furlongs in 1:00.49, according to Daily Racing Form’s Mike Welsch. Forte started about a half-length behind the 3-year-old maiden Abadin and finished about 1 1/2 lengths in front. Forte, with a little prodding by Ortiz past the wire, proceeded to gallop out six furlongs in 1:12.72, seven furlongs in 1:25.94, and a mile in 1:38.74.

ELMONT, N.Y.- – Nobody should know more about Monday’s $125,000 Mike Lee Stakes at Belmont Park than jockey Dylan Davis, who rode three of the seven starters in the race to victories earlier this season at Aqueduct and who has chosen Lifetime of Chance for his mount in the seven-furlong dash for 3-year-old New York-breds.

ELMONT, N.Y. – Last year, the Commentator Stakes failed to fill. This year, the Commentator drew a robust field of 13 with some familiar names such as Bankit, Sea Foam, and Dr Ardito and a handful of newcomers to the New York-bred stakes ranks such as Ouster.

At this time last year, Ouster was a 4-year-old maiden who lost his first two starts sprinting. A year later, Ouster is a three-time winner who seems to have found his niche as a distance horse on dirt.

BELMONT, N.Y. – Forte had himself a tough act to follow Saturday at Belmont Park after stablemate Tapit Trice turned in a very impressive five-furlong breeze here the previous morning in preparation for his upcoming start in the Belmont Stakes on June 10. And the reigning 2-year-old champion was not only up to the task, he turned in nearly a carbon copy of Tapit Trice’s big effort, both from a visual standpoint as well as on the watch.

The way Exaulted has thrived at a mile on turf this year can lead to questions why the 6-year-old wasn’t tried in that sort of race earlier in his career.

“He kept teasing us with some nice races on dirt in some of those bigger events,” trainer Peter Eurton said. “It was never the right timing. This year, we focused on it and said, ‘Let’s see what happens.’”

Drafted won the $100,000 Mr. Prospector Stakes as an 8-year-old in 2022 and he might well win the 2023 renewal at age 9.

Eight horses were entered in the six-furlong Mr. Prospector, the featured eighth race on Monday at Monmouth Park. The field top to bottom looks comparable to the one Drafted beat a year ago, and Drafted, even at his advanced racehorse age, looks comparable to the horse he was a year ago.

Since his first Grade 1 win in the 2021 Hollywood Gold Cup at Santa Anita, Country Grammer has won 2 of 8 starts, including the $12 million Dubai World Cup in 2022, and earned more than $14.5 million. Country Grammer has become a leading older horse, but mostly for what he has accomplished abroad. Another win in the $400,000 Hollywood Gold Cup on Monday would boost his domestic standing.

ARCADIA, Calif. – The Grade 1 Gamely Stakes attracted a new set of horses and a deeper field than a year ago, but a familiar theme will be renewed Monday in the filly-mare turf stakes at Santa Anita.

One year after trainer Brendan Walsh shipped an allowance winner from Kentucky to upset the California locals in the Gamely, Walsh is at it again in the 1 1/8-mile turf race, which is the opening leg of the mandatory-payout pick-six sequence on races 5-10.

GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas – Touchuponastar will attempt to win his seventh straight race Monday, when he steps outside of the Louisiana-bred ranks for the first time in the Grade 3, $400,000 Steve Sexton Mile at Lone Star Park.

“We’re going to cross state lines and try to take a shot,” said owner Jake Delhomme.

The Sexton Mile anchors the Lone Star Million Day card of six stakes worth a total of $1.2 million. The races include the $300,000 Texas Derby that drew Curly Jack and the $100,000 Speightstown, led by the win-streaking Skelly.