ELMONT N.Y. – Though she is taking on older females for the first time, Elate, the Grade 1 Alabama winner, will loom a short price in a field of seven entered Wednesday for Saturday’s Grade 1, $400,000 Beldame for fillies and mares.

Though the 3-year-old Elate is probably more effective around two turns, trainer Bill Mott opted to use the one-turn, 1 1/8-mile Beldame as a stepping-stone to a potential start in the Breeders’ Cup Distaff on Nov. 3 at Del Mar. In 2012, Mott won the Beldame with Royal Delta, who then won the Distaff, known then as the Ladies’ Classic.

ELMONT, N.Y. – Dermot Weld shipped the mare Zhukova from Ireland to Belmont Park hoping she could repeat her dominant six-length victory in the Grade 1 Man o’ War Stakes here in May in Saturday’s Grade 1 Joe Hirsch Turf Classic.

But with the spate of warm, dry weather in the region keeping the Belmont turf courses firm, Weld said Zhukova would skip the Joe Hirsch in favor of the Grade 1 Flower Bowl for fillies and mares on Oct. 8. But, Weld has an interesting backup plan for the Joe Hirsch in 6-year-old The Grey Gatsby.

Nikki Bella will put her unblemished record on the line when she takes on five other fillies and mares in Friday’s $46,000 optional-claiming feature, a six-furlong test on the main track.

Nikki Bella, a 3-year-old daughter of Bellamy Road, launched her career last fall at Gulfstream Park West under a $50,000 claiming tag and won by 9 1/2 lengths as the 2-1 favorite. She would not start again for nearly 10 months, but she returned with a bang, edging away to another easy 3 1/4-length victory while taking on older horses here Aug. 31.

There was one name, World of Trouble, conspicuous by its absence when entries were drawn Wednesday for the final leg of the rich Florida Sire Series, the $400,000 In Reality Stakes on Saturday at Gulfstream Park.

OKLAHOMA CITY – The Breeders’ Cup Sprint is an outside possibility for Ivan Fallunovalot, who won the David M. Vance Stakes for the fourth year in a row last Sunday at Remington Park.

“We’re considering it, but it’s got to be a perfect situation,” owner Lewis Matthews Jr. said.

Ivan Fallunovalot has been a constant in the David M. Vance, winning the race at ages 4 through 7. He covered six furlongs in a stakes-record 1:08.19 on Sunday and earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 98.

Trainer Mick Ruis believes Bolt d’Oro will have no trouble stretching out around two turns. Saturday, the horse will offer his opinion.

Bolt d’Oro, the leader of the 2-year-old male division with two wins sprinting at Del Mar this summer, tries two turns and 1 1/16 miles for the first time in Saturday’s Grade 1, $300,000 FrontRunner Stakes at Santa Anita. The FrontRunner, which drew a field of nine, offers an automatic berth into the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile on Nov. 4 at Del Mar. The FrontRunner and the Juvenile are both run at 1 1/16 miles.

Four fillies and mares from the United States and abroad – Dacita, Ashiana, Hydrangea, and Birdie Gold – have earned expense-paid berths for the Nov. 4 Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf at Del Mar with triumphs in designated Breeders’ Cup Challenge races. Another pair will join those qualifiers after this weekend following Saturday’s Grade 1 Rodeo Drive at Santa Anita and Sunday’s Group 1 Prix de l’Opera at Chantilly in France.

Will she or won’t she?

One trainer, when recently asked if his Breeders’ Cup hopeful would be pointed to the Sprint or the Dirt Mile, said he’d chosen the Dirt Mile, adding that one reason was because he didn’t think he could beat “that freak” in the Sprint.

When asked if he was referring to the defending Sprint champion Drefong, he politely replied, “No, I’m talking about Imperial Hint.”

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On the surface, it looks like Time Test has failed every test to prove himself a true top-class horse. In races other than Grade 1’s or Group 1’s, he has six wins from nine tries, but in starts at the highest level he is 0 for 5.

Maybe it’s still not time to give up on Time Test winning a major race. Chad Brown, who trains the 5-year-old for Khalid Abdullah’s Juddmonte Farms, isn’t ready.

“He trains like a horse that you just feel has that Grade 1 in him,” Brown said. “I think he can win a big one. Hopefully, the conditions are right this fall that he can accomplish that.”