OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Dolphus, a half-brother to champion and Hall of Famer Rachel Alexandra, has been transferred by owner Dede McGehee to trainer Jimmy Jerkens. He will make his first start for Jerkens on Sunday at Aqueduct in the $125,000 Stymie Stakes.

Dolphus, a 4-year-old son of Lookin At Lucky previously trained by Joe Sharp, has won 3 of 9 starts. Most recently, he finished last of nine in the Grade 3 Hal’s Hope at Gulfstream Park on Jan. 14, when he got used up in a speed duel. It was after that race that McGehee moved the horse to Jerkens.

In a year of international synergy in the ever-more-global Thoroughbred bloodstock industry, three stallions dominated their corners of the globe: Japanese Triple Crown winner Deep Impact, the world’s leading sire due to staggering purses in his home country; the ineffable Galileo in Europe; and Tapit, who keeps setting the bar higher for himself in North America.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Steve Asmussen often exhibits a hardened exterior, never truly revealing what he’s thinking, to the point where sometimes it’s not easy to tell if he won or lost a race.

On Friday, however, Asmussen showed an emotional side rarely seen publicly as he was formally inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame.

Asmussen got choked up sitting in the front row as Julie, his wife of 19 years, introduced him. Later, when talking about his parents, Keith and Marilyn, Steve Asmussen had to stop.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Rachel Alexandra posted a series of historic victories during an audacious sophomore campaign. Steve Asmussen, who saddled her for the majority of those, is one of the winningest trainers in the history of racing. The duo were seeming no-brainers for election to the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame this year despite being on one of the deepest ballots in recent memory.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – For the first time since his forced retirement in 2013, Ramon Dominguez has spent a large amount of time at the racetrack this summer at Saratoga.

His apprehension has been replaced by the realization that the track still has the comforts of home.

Chocolate or vanilla? Ford or Chevy? Mantle or Mays? The Beatles or the Stones? These are topics that can be debated for hours, and of course there is no right or wrong answer; it’s mostly just a matter of personal preference. For horse racing fans in recent years, there’s a topic that has joined that list: Who was better, Rachel Alexandra or Zenyatta?

Last weekend provided something of a harmonic convergence for the stud career of Medaglia d’Oro. On the same day that the retirement of the only daughter of his first great champion filly Rachel Alexandra was announced, Medaglia d’Oro’s second great American champion filly Songbird soared to an emphatic victory in the Grade 1 Coaching Club American Oaks at Saratoga.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Though Rachel’s Valentina was born to run in the Kentucky Oaks, her connections claim it wasn’t always their plan to be in the race.

Yet seven years after Rachel Alexandra dominated the Kentucky Oaks like no one before or since, her only daughter, Rachel’s Valentina, is not only in the Oaks but is the 7-2 morning-line favorite.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – It would be off the mark to say that Barbara Banke simply “carried on” at Stonestreet Farm following the death of husband Jess Jackson five years ago.

Rachel Alexandra and Zenyatta never met on the racetrack, but their Hall of Fame plaques will be alongside one another on Aug. 12, when those two outstanding female racehorses as well as jockey Ramon Dominguez and trainer Steve Asmussen are inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.