ELMONT, N.Y. – Chad Brown won his first Saratoga training title quite easily this past summer, but his quest for a fifth straight Belmont fall title will be a battle. Brown and Rudy Rodriguez enter the final week of the meet tied with 26 wins apiece, but Rodriguez has the upper hand based on the entries Wednesday through Friday.

Rodriguez has 13 horses entered from Wednesday through Friday, including eight horses in seven races on Thursday’s card. Brown has just six horses entered in four races over that span and does not have a starter Thursday.

ELMONT, N.Y. – Roca Rojo, a 3 1/4-length winner of Sunday’s Grade 3 Athenia Stakes at Belmont, could make her next start in the Grade 1, $300,000 Matriarch at Del Mar on Dec. 4, trainer Chad Brown said Monday.

Roca Rojo, an Irish-bred daughter of Strategic Prince, showed an explosive turn of foot in the stretch to win the Athenia and improve her record to 5 for 6.

ELMONT, N.Y. – While still living in the moment of Bar of Gold’s 18-length victory in last Saturday’s $250,000 Empire Distaff Handicap – for which she was assigned a 109 Beyer Speed Figure – trainer John Kimmel couldn’t help but think about the 4-year-old filly’s future.

“She quickened so fast, she might be a freak on the grass,” Kimmel said Monday at Belmont Park. “We’ll try the grass next year at some point.”

Owner Danny Keene will be the first to say that Texas Chrome has been a blessing. Purchased as a $10,000 yearling, the horse has gone on to earn $842,462.

Things could get even sweeter Nov. 4 at Santa Anita.

Are You Kidding Me won last year’s Grade 2, $200,000 Autumn Stakes on his way to becoming Canada’s champion older male of 2015, and a repeat win in the Autumn on Nov. 6 at Woodbine would bolster his case for another Sovereign Award.

Are You Kidding Me, a 6-year-old trained by Roger Attfield, most recently won the Grade 3 Durham Cup on Sept. 24. Prior to that, he finished second in back-to-back starts in the Grade 2 Sky Classic Stakes and the Grade 3 Seagram Cup and won the Grade 2 Eclipse Stakes on May 28.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Trainer Daniel Vella will return to the Breeders’ Cup for the first time since 2010 when he sends out Channel Maker in the Juvenile Turf on Nov. 4 at Santa Anita.

“We’re going to go to the big dance and see just how good he is,” Vella said. “We had a bit of a troubled trip last time, and I think we’re competitive, so we’re going.”

ELMONT, N.Y. – Effinex, the runner-up to American Pharoah in last year’s Breeders’ Cup Classic, worked five furlongs in 1:00.46 over the Belmont Park training track Monday in preparation for this year’s $6 million BC Classic on Nov. 5 at Santa Anita.

Under exercise rider Kelvin Pahal, Efffinex went his first three furlongs in 36.29 seconds, which prompted trainer Jimmy Jerkens, watching from the eighth pole, to raise his hand to have Pahal slow the horse down. He got his final quarter in 24.17 seconds and galloped out six furlongs in 1:13.91.

ELMONT, N.Y. – Trainer Todd Pletcher said on Monday that he pre-entered nine in the Breeders’ Cup, including Keen Ice, who will start in the Classic on Nov. 5 at Santa Anita.

Keen Ice, who beat American Pharoah in the 2015 Travers, is coming off a third-place finish in an allowance race at Belmont on Oct. 7, his first start since running eighth behind California Chrome in the Dubai World Cup.

ELMONT, N.Y. – Led by top turf runners Flintshire and Lady Eli and dual Grade 1 dirt winner Practical Joke, trainer Chad Brown said he pre-entered 12 horses on Monday for the Breeders’ Cup races Nov. 4-5 at Santa Anita.

If all 12 get to run, it will equal the number of starters Brown had last year, when he won the Filly and Mare Sprint with Wavell Avenue and the Filly and Mare Turf with Stephanie’s Kitten. Wavell Avenue is among Brown’s pre-entrants this year in the Filly and Mare Sprint.

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Lightstream was transported Monday from Keeneland to Belmont Park and rejoined trainer Brian Lynch, who said he will consider the Grade 1 La Brea in December after initially saying the filly was finished racing this year.

“I’ve had second thoughts on her break,” Lynch said.

The La Brea is a seven-furlong race Dec. 26 at Santa Anita.