LEXINGTON, Ky. – One of the longer shots in the Bourbon Stakes here Sunday is Shazier, a colt named for Ryan Shazier, the Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker who suffered a serious spinal injury in a game last December. Joe Bravo, who will ride the Cairo Prince colt for trainer Carlo Vaccarezza, will wear silks sporting the Steelers logo.

MIAMI – After being used heavily for the past 10 months with as many as five or six races carded daily on the grass, the Gulfstream Park turf course is undergoing extensive renovations that began immediately after the spring-summer session ended last Sunday.

Large sections of the course have already been ripped out, with the much-needed project scheduled to be completed by the time the 2018-19 championship meet opens Dec. 1.

X Y Jet was back on the work tab and back in consideration for the Breeders' Cup Sprint after working five furlongs in 58 seconds Thursday morning at Monmouth Park, according to trainer Jorge Navarro. Navarro moved the drill up two days after having originally scheduled the work for Saturday. 

"He was supposed to go an easy half, instead he went 21, 33, 45, 58, and galloped out in 1:11 then came back to the barn like nothing happened," said Navarro. "He's still day to day, and we'll let him tell us if he can make the Sprint, but right now I think we can pull it off."

MIAMI – With the grandstand at Gulfstream Park West long gone, finding a suitable spot to observe races live during the meet can be tricky, which is why trainer Eddie Plesa Jr. chose to watch his very promising 3-year-old Apostle compete in Wednesday’s opening-day feature from the backstretch near the 3 1/2-furlong pole, a vantage point that can be a bit deceptive as the race unfolds.

Ride a Comet has lost just once in five starts on turf. That defeat came to Raging Bull in the Grade 2 National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame Stakes at Saratoga in August.

Saturday, Ride a Comet will get another shot at Raging Bull in the Grade 2, $500,000 Hill Prince Stakes for 3-year-olds at Belmont Park.

After losing to Raging Bull, Ride a Comet was sent west by trainer Mark Casse where Ride a Comet won the Grade 2 Del Mar Derby on Sept. 2.

ELMONT, N.Y. – Pure Sensation won the inaugural Belmont Turf Sprint Invitational in 2016. Stablemate Disco Partner won the second running last year.

Saturday, both horses are part of an eight-horse field entered for the third running of the $150,000 Belmont Turf Sprint Invitational at six furlongs. The Belmont Turf Sprint is a stepping-stone to the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint on Nov. 3 at Churchill Downs.

ELMONT, N.Y. – She has won five graded stakes, seven stakes overall and earned more than $1 million. The only thing Farrell hasn’t done is win a Grade 1 race.

She will have a terrific opportunity to achieve that milestone in Saturday’s $400,000 Beldame Stakes at Belmont Park. Farrell drew the outside post in a field of eight fillies and mares, none of whom has won a Grade 1 stakes in North America.

Trainer Larry Jones won one of the first runnings of the Zia Park Oaks – the marquee race at Zia Park in Hobbs, N.M. – back in 2014 with Cassatt. Jones said he might return for the 1 1/16-mile stakes Nov. 21 with Hold Her Tight.

Hold Her Tight last raced Sunday in the Grade 3, $200,000 Remington Park Oaks. She broke from post 10 in the 1 1/16-mile race and finished fourth, three lengths behind winner She’s a Julie.

“She was looking good coming around the turn,” Jones said. “I jumped on and started riding, and I’m overweight!

ELMONT, N.Y. – Trainer Bill Mott announced a few weeks ago that Mucho, the runner-up in the Grade 1 Hopeful, would be turned out for the remainder of the year. But Mott’s 2-year-old cupboard is hardly bare.

Mott will be a participant in both Grade 1 stakes run in the division this weekend, including with Casa Creed in Saturday’s Grade 1 Champagne Stakes at Belmont Park. The Champagne, a Win and You’re In for the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile on Nov. 2 at Churchill Downs, drew a field of 10 topped by Grade 2 Saratoga Special winner Call Paul.

Pop Keenan was the first Remington Park starter for Kentucky Derby-winning trainer John Servis, and he finished a fast-closing third in the $150,000 David M. Vance on Sunday. The next stop could be Belmont Park.

Servis said Pop Keenan will be considered for the Grade 3, $200,000 Bold Ruler at seven furlongs Oct. 27. Pop Keenan was to fly back to his Parx Racing base Wednesday.

Pop Keenan found himself farther back than usual in the Vance. He closed from last and just missed second by a neck.