ARCADIA, Calif. - The last time Happy Jack started in a Grade 1, he finished sixth of eight at 17-1 in the H. Allen Jerkens Stakes for 3-year-old sprinters at Saratoga in August 2022.

Nearly two years later, Happy Jack is likely to start in another Grade 1 in the $400,000 Bing Crosby Stakes at six furlongs at Del Mar on July 27. The winner of the Bing Crosby Stakes receives a fees-paid berth to the Breeders’ Cup Sprint at Del Mar on Nov. 2.

This time, Happy Jack will command a higher measure of respect from bettors.

SARATOGA

Weather: Clear 
Track: Fast 
Temperature: 54

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - The final piece of the Belmont Stakes workout puzzle fell into place nicely around 7:45 a.m. Sunday morning over the Oklahoma training track. Wood Memorial winner RESILIENCE solidified his spot in the lineup with a very solid half-mile breeze in 47.88 seconds that delighted a gathering of about two-dozen spectators, none more so than his Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott.    

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - As expected, Kentucky Derby winner Mystik Dan is a go for the Belmont Stakes, trainer Kenny McPeek confirmed Sunday.

McPeek said blood work taken on Mystik Dan on Saturday following his workout earlier that morning “came back good. We put his feed out, he dove in, so we went ahead and entered.”

McPeek had been hinting all week that he would run Mystik Dan in the Belmont, but wanted to make sure the horse had a good work, came out of it in good order and was eating.

Jockeys Keith and Erik Asmussen, sons of Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen, were injured Saturday in races at Churchill Downs and Lone Star Park.

Keith Asmussen was riding Singsational in the first race Saturday at Churchill when the horse clipped heels and went down on the backstretch of a dirt race. Keith Asmussen was taken to the hospital with a possible fractured femur and a hip injury, according to Churchill Downs media.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - A Kentucky Oaks rematch looks to be in the offing Friday when Thorpedo Anna and Just F Y I head a field of nine 3-year-old fillies that were entered Saturday for the Grade 1, $500,000 Acorn Stakes at Saratoga.

Regulatory Risk, who finished third in the Kentucky Oaks, is also part of the Acorn field.

SARATOGA RACE COURSE
Weather: Clear
Temperature: 48°
Track: Fast

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Sierra Leone, beaten a nose by Mystik Dan when second as the favorite in the Kentucky Derby after lugging in during the stretch run, will wear a new bit, known as a cage bit, when he starts as the likely favorite in the $2 million Belmont Stakes next Saturday at Saratoga.

Patricia Farro, a Pennsylvania-based trainer who at the high point of her career was earning millions of dollars per year in purses, has been suspended four years by the Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit after two of her horses tested positive for cobalt salts, according to documents HIWU posted on its website.

David Jacobson, one of the top claiming trainers of the mid-2010s, has been suspended 30 days by the Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit after one of his horses tested positive for an excessive amount of total carbon dioxide in the blood, according to HIWU records.

The 30-day suspension began on Thursday. HIWU said that Jacobson had admitted to the violation and accepted the penalty, which also included the disqualification of the horse Got Thunder from a second-place finish in a March 21 allowance race at Penn National.