The turn of the calendar to July means the rapid approach of the boutique summer meetings at Del Mar and Saratoga, which annually unveil some of the nation’s best-bred 2-year-olds. This year, a half-sister to a Triple Crown winner will be based at each track, adding extra anticipation.

Two of the most successful broodmares of the 21st century continued to deliver on Saturday, when both were represented by a new graded stakes winner.

Funtastic, stakes-placed last year, became the latest Grade 1 winner out of Quiet Dance when he won the United Nations on the Monmouth Park turf. Meanwhile, Delta Prince, multiple graded-placed last year, broke through to win the Grade 2 King Edward Stakes at Woodbine to represent the late dam Delta Princess.

For the last several years, Coolmore has obviously been looking for a successor to their aging super stallion Galileo.

Former racehorse and international three-day-event standout Donner and longtime partner Lynn Symansky are among the five horse-and-rider teams named to the U.S. eventing team for the FEI World Equestrian Games, set for Sept. 11-23 in Mill Spring, N.C.

Donner, a New York-bred gelding who raced under the name Smart Gorky, went winless in six starts. He arrived at Symansky’s barn in 2008 as a resale project, but she has instead partnered with him for a decade as he has climbed the levels to become one of the most decorated American horses competing in eventing.

Sam-Son Farm’s breeding program has given it five victories in the Queen’s Plate, and the operation looks to add to that total on Saturday at Woodbine with two homebreds from prominent families. Sam-Son’s Plate entrants Say the Word and Strike Me Down are both based at Fair Hill with trainer Graham Motion.

Ghostzapper is seeking his third Queen’s Plate winner in the last four years, and he will have two shots when the Canadian classic is renewed this Saturday at Woodbine.

Other than the Breeders’ Cup, the most international race meeting on the planet occurs each June in the Berkshire hills west of London in the village of Ascot.

Juvenile champion Shanghai Bobby, who stands for the international Coolmore operation, is already developing a reputation as an international sire for that outfit.

Shanghai Bobby, who is based at Coolmore’s Ashford Stud in Kentucky, was represented by a second-crop winner at the renowned Royal Ascot meeting last week in England, as his daughter Shang Shang Shang defeated males in the Group 2 Norfolk Stakes.

Multiple graded stakes-winning millionaire Vyjack has been retired from racing and has returned to breeders Craig and Carrie Brogden at Machmer Hall in Paris, Ky. – at least, for now. Carrie Brogden says the gelding could be re-homed for a second career following some time off.

Canadian champion Uncaptured got his own racing career off to a swift start, with a stellar season as a juvenile. Now a young stallion at Ocala Stud, he is rapidly earning a reputation for passing that precociousness on to his progeny.