ELMONT, N.Y. – Backyard Heaven, who at one point in the spring of 2018 was regarded as one of the top older male dirt horses in training, has been breezing steadily for a return to the races, possibly this summer at Saratoga.

Backyard Heaven had his seventh work of the year on Tuesday, breezing five furlongs in 1:02.64 over the Oklahoma training track at Saratoga. Asked if he could possibly make the State Dinner Stakes at Belmont on July 7, Brown said: “I don’t think he’s ready. He’s not there yet.”

ELMONT, N.Y. – My Sister Nat, a half-sister to the 2018 female turf champion Sistercharlie and recent French Derby winner Sottsass, will make her seasonal and U.S. debut Saturday in a second-level allowance race that goes as race 3 on the 10-race program.

Global Campaign, who would have been among the favorites in Saturday’s Grade 3 Ohio Derby, will be scratched due to a nagging foot problem, Thistledown director of racing Patrick Ellsworth confirmed Wednesday.

Global Campaign has been troubled by foot issues since grabbing a quarter during the Fountain of Youth Stakes, which led to a quarter crack that derailed his spring campaign. He returned to win the Peter Pan Stakes in May, defeating subsequent Belmont Stakes winner Sir Winston, but missed days of training after shedding a frog afterward.

ARCADIA, Calif. – Vasilika, the leading turf female in Southern California this year, is expected to make her next start in the Grade 2 Yellow Ribbon Handicap at 1 1/16 miles on turf at Del Mar on Aug. 3.

Trainer Jerry Hollendorfer considered sending Vasilika to the Grade 1 Beverly D. Stakes at Arlington Park on Aug. 10, but has elected to keep the 5-year-old mare in California with the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf at Santa Anita on Nov. 2 as a long-term goal.

“We’re doing good here,” Hollendorfer said of Vasilika’s success in California.

ARCADIA, Calif. – Three starts into his American career, Proud Pedro is showing the sort of ability that could lead to an appearance in a graded stakes at Del Mar in August.

Friday at Santa Anita, Proud Pedro starts against winners for the first time in an allowance race with an $80,000 claiming option at a mile on turf. Trainer Leonard Powell hopes Friday’s race will lead Proud Pedro to the Grade 3 La Jolla Handicap for 3-year-olds on turf at Del Mar on Aug. 4.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – The Summit of Speed program on June 29 figures to have a distinct local flavor. Although trainer Michael Stidham is stabled outside South Florida, he is considering shipping horses to town for the two main events on the card, the Grade 2 Princess Rooney and Grade 3 Smile Sprint.

Stidham said he is looking at the Princess Rooney with his lightly raced but steadily improving Saguaro Row and the six-furlong Smile for his sprint specialist Proforma. Both horses are stabled with Stidham at the Fair Hill Training Center in Maryland.

ELMONT, N.Y. – Though trainer Mark Casse entered Wings of Dawn in Saturday’s $100,000 Wild Applause Stakes for 3-year-old fillies on turf, he is likely to scratch her and point to the Grade 2, $250,000 Mother Goose Stakes on dirt June 29.

ARCADIA, Calif. – John Toffan, who co-owned Grade 1 winners such as Bien Bien, Came Home, and Free House in the 1990s and early 2000s, died after a lengthy illness Monday, according to his wife, Cheryl.

Toffan was 83. He was living in Hidden Hills, Calif.

John Toffan, who had a business background in oil exploration and gold mining, rose to prominence in racing with the success of a stable he operated with Trudy McCaffery, his partner at the time. They won such races as the Santa Anita Derby with Free House in 1997 and Came Home in 2002.

ELMONT, N.Y. – Sir Winston, the Belmont Stakes winner, will join Country House, the Kentucky Derby winner, on the sidelines at least through the major races in the 3-year-old division this summer.

Trainer Mark Casse said Sir Winston is dealing with an injury to his left front ankle and will be out of training for a little while. Shortly after the Belmont Stakes, Casse brought Sir Winston to his farm in Ocala, Fla., where he is simply walking.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Mia Mischief, a last-out winner of the Grade 1 Humana Distaff on Kentucky Derby Day at Churchill, is among a short field of filly and mare sprinters expected for the highlight of the coming weekend at Churchill Downs, the $120,000 Roxelana on Saturday.

Others expected for the six-furlong race are Honey Bunny and Astrollinthepark, the one-two finishers in the Grade 3 Winning Colors here May 25. Honey Bunny, a 5-year-old mare trained by John Ortiz, is riding a five-race win streak.