SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – The trio of horses trainer Brad Cox ran at Monmouth Park last Saturday all shipped up to Saratoga the following day and are targeting stakes here in late August.

The reigning champion older dirt filly Idiomatic, who won a dogged stretch duel with Soul of an Angel to win the Grade 3 Molly Pitcher by a head, will be aimed at the Grade 1 Personal Ensign on Aug. 23. Her four-length victory in last year’s Personal Ensign was the first of three straight Grade 1 victories that helped clinch her an Eclipse Award.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Trainer Chad Brown was looking for a confidence booster for his Grade 1-placed filly Occult and trainer Wesley Ward was hoping to get his Grade 1-winning mare Chi Town Lady back on track when both trainers entered the pair in Friday’s fourth race. Instead, they wound up hooking one another in the one-mile contest that also lured the multiple stakes-placed Movie Moxy and four-time stakes winner Stonewall Star.

DEL MAR, Calif. – All-sources handle fell 4 percent on the first two days of the Del Mar summer meeting on Saturday and Sunday compared to similar days at the 2023 meeting, according to data released by the track.

The 2023 meeting began on a Friday, but this year the season started on Saturday.

Handle on Saturday and Sunday, including ontrack, simulcasting, and account-wagering sources, reached $41.9 million. The corresponding days last year had handle of $43.6 million.

The five-time stakes winner Chancery Way will be sent from Northern California to Del Mar next month in search of an elusive goal – a stakes win at a mile.

Chancery Way has developed a niche in minor stakes or California-bred stakes in the last two years, winning five sprints at Del Mar, Golden Gate Fields, Pleasanton, and Sacramento.

The most recent of those was a commanding 3 1/2-length win in the $66,250 Governor’s Cup Stakes for fillies and mares at six furlongs at Cal-Expo in Sacramento on Saturday evening, a win that ended a three-race losing streak.

DEL MAR, Calif. – Trainer Bob Baffert’s already potent team of juvenile winners gained depth on Del Mar’s opening weekend with victories by the first-time starters Casalu and Getaway Car.

Getaway Car, ridden by Juan Hernandez, led throughout a five-furlong maiden race on Saturday, pulling clear to win by 3 1/4 lengths in 57.43 seconds. The time was the fastest of four races at the distance for 2-year-olds on Saturday and Sunday. Getaway Car earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 76.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Tapit Trice will be pointed to the Grade 1, $1 million Jockey Club Gold Cup after his sharp 5 1/4-length victory in Saturday’s Grade 3, $404,000 Monmouth Cup at Monmouth Park.

Forced to scratch out of the Alysheba Stakes in May and the Blame Stakes in June – both at Churchill Downs – due to a foot issue, Tapit Trice came into the Monmouth Cup off a 11-month layoff since his third in last year’s Travers Stakes.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – The present is good, and the future looks bright for trainer Chad Brown based on how his first 2-year-old runners of the year performed over the weekend. Brown won a pair of maiden races, one on dirt Saturday with Incentive Pay and one on turf Sunday with Virgin Colada.

Incentive Pay, a son of Volatile owned by Seth Klarman, took advantage of a large opening along the rail to rally on through and draw off to a 2 1/2-length victory in a six-furlong dirt race. Incentive Pay covered the distance in 1:12.20 and earned a 68 Beyer Speed Figure.

The connections of the up-and-coming sprinter Subrogate have called an audible and will run in Saturday’s Grade 1, $350,000 Alfred G. Vanderbilt Handicap at Saratoga instead of Sunday’s $150,000 Frank J. De Francis Memorial Dash at Laurel, trainer Jorge Duarte Jr. said Monday.

Duarte had planned to cross-enter Monday for the De Francis, but, after consulting with owner Rich Santulli of Colts Neck Stables, the decision was made to run in the Vanderbilt. He was not entered in the De Francis.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Jockey Dylan Davis has gotten his Saratoga meet off a terrific start with eight winners – including two stakes – from 37 mounts, punctuated by a four-win Saturday.

The four wins on Saturday’s card included a victory aboard Pounce in the Grade 3 Lake George Stakes for trainer Mark Casse. Davis, who attended Saratoga High School, had twice previously in his career won three races on a Saratoga card, but never four.