SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Tepin, North America’s reigning female turf champion, returned to the work tab Tuesday for the first time in 3 1/2 weeks, breezing a slow half-mile in 53.07 seconds over the Oklahoma turf course.

Tepin is preparing for a start in the Grade 1, $1 million Woodbine Mile on Sept. 17.

Under jockey Florent Geroux, filling in for injured rider Julien Leparoux, Tepin went off in fractions of 13.44 seconds and 26.89 for the opening quarter. She picked it up only slightly in the lane, getting her final quarter in 26.18.

DEL MAR, Calif. - Beholder, the defending race winner of the Pacific Classic, will need to be at her best to face the likes of California Chrome and Dortmund in this year's Pacific Classic on Saturday at Del Mar, but she gave off every indication Tuesday morning that she's ready for a top effort in the Grade 1, $1 million race when she polished off a half-mile in 47 seconds without any appreciable effort.

Rajiv Maragh, who suffered multiple back and rib fractures in a spill at Belmont Park on July 10, 2015, is progressing toward a return to the saddle but isn’t targeting a specific date.

Maragh, who spent the better part of the last eight months in south Florida undergoing physical therapy, has moved back to New York to continue that process. He visited his specialist Friday in Manhattan and came up to Saratoga to visit.

Though he looks fit, Maragh said he’s still not strong enough to ride.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Trainers often say they wish they had one more week or one more work before running their horse in a race.

Trainers who had horses pointed for the Grade 1, $500,000 Fourstardave got the extra week, and on Monday, many put their horses through an extra work in preparation for the race that will now be run this Saturday.

DEL MAR, Calif. – Klimt and Big League, who finished first and second in the Grade 2 Best Pal on Saturday, both will start in the Grade 1, $300,000 Del Mar Futurity on closing day, Sept. 5, according to their trainers.

Klimt gave trainer Bob Baffert a record eighth win in the Best Pal.

“It was a nice, easy race for him,” Baffert said. “They didn’t go that fast early. That Futurity is going to be loaded. Klimt has the right style.”

DEL MAR, Calif. – While the Pacific Classic understandably is the focal point Saturday, there are two significant stakes on the undercard, both on turf, including the Grade 1, $300,000 Del Mar Oaks for 3-year-old fillies.

Mokat, the winner of the Grade 2 San Clemente here on July 23, is the best of the local runners in the 1 1/8-mile Del Mar Oaks, but the race picked up a significant invader on Monday when trainer Bill Mott decided to send Harmonize to the race. Harmonize most recently finished fifth in the Grade 1 Belmont Oaks behind Catch a Glimpse.

DEL MAR, Calif. – Trainer Phil D’Amato nominated Midnight Storm and Obviously to Sunday’s Grade 2, $200,000 Del Mar Mile but will take the divide-and-conquer approach with those two grass runners. Midnight Storm will run here, while Obviously will head out of town.

Midnight Storm won the Grade 2 Eddie Read Stakes on July 17, his fourth win in five starts on this course. He completed his preparation for the Del Mar Mile with a five-furlong drill in 1:01.40 on the main track Sunday.

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. – On Sunday at Saratoga, where he is based right now, Florent Geroux rode the winner of the first race, running his record at the meet to 4-5-10 from 56 starters and placing him 13th in the jockey standings.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Trainer Chad Brown’s contingent of horses who shipped to Chicago for last Saturday’s Arlington Million card were back in New York by Sunday night, and the majority of them will be pointed to stakes races at the Belmont fall meet.

Sea Calisi, who won the Grade 1 Beverly D., likely will target the Grade 1, $500,000 Flower Bowl Invitational on Oct. 8 as a prep for the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Belmont Stakes winner Creator continues to show signs that his race in the Jim Dandy Stakes, as bad as it was, has moved him forward. For the second straight week, he showed good energy in a five-furlong workout in company with Gun Runner that went in 1:00.60 over Saratoga’s main track Monday.

Both 3-year-olds, coming off disappointing finishes in their most recent outings, are pointing to the Grade 1, $1.25 million Travers Stakes on Aug. 27.