ELMONT, N.Y. – Rachel’s Valentina, sixth as the favorite in the Kentucky Oaks, will make her next start in the Grade 1, $300,000 Mother Goose Stakes at Belmont Park on July 2, trainer Todd Pletcher confirmed Friday.

Though she would have had five weeks between the Kentucky Oaks and the Grade 1 Acorn – run last Saturday on the Belmont Stakes undercard – Pletcher felt that even more time would be beneficial for the daughter of Bernardini and Rachel Alexandra. Rachel Alexandra won the 2009 Mother Goose by 19 1/4 lengths.

Melatonin and Hard Aces, the first two finishers of the $1 million Santa Anita Handicap, are among eight projected starters for the $500,000 Gold Cup at Santa Anita next Saturday.

The race is expected to be comprised of California-based runners, including Bal a Bali, Follow Me Crev, Imperative, Lieutenant Colonel, Second Summer, and Win the Space.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Dean Reeves has already achieved one of Thoroughbred racing’s most coveted goals, winning the 2013 Breeders’ Cup Classic with Mucho Macho Man. Now, he’s gotten in on the ground floor hoping to achieve another – winning the inaugural edition of the Pegasus World Cup at Gulfstream Park next January.

ARCADIA, Calif. – Kentucky Derby winner Nyquist had his first major exercise in nearly a month on Friday, working a half-mile in 48.60 seconds at Santa Anita.

Nyquist has not raced since finishing third in the Preakness Stakes at Pimlico on May 21. He missed the Belmont Stakes at Belmont Park on June 11 after being diagnosed with a high white blood cell count in the days after the Preakness.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Trainer Dale Romans said he will keep his two star 3-year-olds separated for their next starts while eyeing the Travers Stakes for both.

Romans said this week at his Churchill Downs base that Brody’s Cause likely will be pointed to the $1 million Haskell Invitational on July 31 at Monmouth Park, while Cherry Wine could race the following weekend in the $750,000 West Virginia Derby on Aug. 6 at Mountaineer.

“The ideal thing would be for them both to run their way into the Travers,” he said.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – West Point Thoroughbreds partners from Canada and across the United States will converge on Woodbine in two weeks to see if Scholar Athlete can give the group its first Queen’s Plate winner in its third attempt.

West Point Thoroughbreds recorded an eighth-place finish in 2005 with Get Down and a ninth-place finish in 2011 with Enduring Star, but Terry Finley, chief executive of West Point Thoroughbreds, believes Scholar Athlete has a big chance this time.

ELMONT, N.Y. – This is a big weekend for trainer Jimmy Jerkens, with Effinex in Saturday night’s Grade 1 Stephen Foster Handicap at Churchill Downs and Unified’s two-turn debut in the Grade 3 Pegasus at Monmouth on Sunday.

He can only hope things go as well for those horses as they did for Shaman Ghost in last Saturday’s Grade 2, $400,000 Brooklyn Invitational, a race he won by 4 1/4 lengths.

ELMONT, N.Y. – When last seen at the races, Tin Type Gal was getting up late to win the Grade 3 Miss Grillo at Belmont Park by a nose. That was nine months ago.

On Sunday, Tin Type Gal makes her 3-year-old debut in the $100,000 Wild Applause, for 3-year-old fillies going a mile on the Widener turf course.

Eleven were entered for the Wild Applause, including one main-track-only runner, Estelle.

Tin Type Gal, a daughter of Tapit trained by Graham Motion, went 2 for 2 on turf last year after finishing seventh in an off-the-turf race at Saratoga.

ELMONT, N.Y. – Ironicus, who ran a solid second to Flintshire in the Grade 1 Manhattan at 1 1/4 miles last Saturday, likely will shorten up to a mile in the Grade 1, $500,000 Fourstardave at Saratoga on Aug. 13, trainer Shug McGaughey said Thursday.

“I just don’t really want to run him a mile and a half,” said McGaughey, alluding to the Grade 1 Sword Dancer at Saratoga on Aug. 27.

McGaughey didn’t close the door on the Arlington Million, run at 1 1/4 miles on Aug. 13, but wants to keep Ironicus on firm ground.

ELMONT, N.Y. – Governor Malibu ran well enough in the Belmont Stakes to keep the New York-bred under consideration for some of the higher-quality races in the 3-year-old division this summer, trainer Christophe Clement said Thursday.

Governor Malibu finished fourth in the Belmont, beaten four lengths by Creator. He saved all the ground under Joel Rosario and altered course in the stretch after Rosario thought about going inside, only to have the room closed when Gettysburg came back to the inside after drifting out a path turning for home.