ETOBICOKE, Ontario – As the price reached $200,000 on Hip No. 194 at the 2014 Canadian premier yearling sale, trainer John LeBlanc Jr. could start to feel his heartbeat in his ears. He had been told by an ownership group that included breeder Paradox Farm, Mardon Stable, and Hugh Sutherland not to stop bidding on the horse until he felt a tap on his shoulder.

“Those were my instructions,” he said. “I tried to slow the bidding down, but the underbidders kept firing back really quickly.”

In the end, the bidding stopped at $325,000, and LeBlanc hadn’t felt a tap.

ARCADIA, Calif. – Songbird is all but confirmed for a comeback next Saturday in the Grade 2 Summertime Oaks at Santa Anita. Trainer Jerry Hollendorfer said Friday that the undefeated 3-year-old filly will have one final workout before he commits her to the 1 1/16-mile race.

“We’re looking at the Summertime Oaks, yes,” Hollendorfer said. “We’re going to have a breeze Saturday or Sunday, and we’ll go from there.”

ARCADIA, Calif. – Kentucky Derby winner Nyquist stepped up his training Friday at Santa Anita, galloping for the first time since returning to California from Baltimore one week ago.

Nyquist, whose third-place finish in the Preakness Stakes was his first loss from nine starts, was declared out of the Belmont Stakes after coming down with an elevated white blood count and a high temperature days after the Preakness. The colt has since recovered, returned to Santa Anita on June 5, and had been jogging two miles daily until Friday, when he resumed galloping.

Untapable will be back on the scene of one of her proudest moments when the 5-year-old mare runs as the favorite in a Win and You’re In race on next Saturday's  Downs After Dark card, the Grade 2 Fleur de Lis Handicap, at Churchill Downs.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Effinex will be ridden by Gary Stevens next Saturday night in the Grade 1 Stephen Foster Handicap at Churchill Downs in the absence of regular rider Mike Smith, who is committed to ride Songbird a few hours earlier in the Summertime Oaks at Santa Anita.

Effinex figures as a solid favorite in the 35th running of the $500,000 Foster, a Win and You’re In event toward the Nov. 5 Breeders’ Cup Classic and the richest of five graded stakes on a Downs After Dark program.

ELMONT, N.Y. – When Art Magnuson left the employ of trainer Kiaran McLaughlin last fall following the Saratoga meet, he wasn’t necessarily planning to start training on his own.

But it appears it’s going to work out that way.

Magnuson, 51, has four stalls at Saratoga. He has a pair of 2-year-olds of his own – Callant and Dulcita – and the unraced 4-year-old Sweet Cider. He is also preparing another 2-year-old, Saint Patrick Frost, who will go to Pat Kelly.

ELMONT, N.Y. – It has been a frustrating spring for trainer Alan Goldberg when it comes to Force the Pass, last year’s Grade 1 Belmont Derby winner.

After having to pass three spots with Force the Pass, Goldberg is eyeing next Saturday’s Grade 3, $300,000 Poker Stakes at a mile here for the colt’s next start.

“I’m on Plan D,” Goldberg said Thursday. “Hopefully, we’ll get there.”

ELMONT, N.Y. – Unified, unbeaten in three starts, all around one turn, is set for his two-turn debut in the Grade 3, $150,000 Pegasus Stakes for 3-year-olds going 1 1/16 miles at Monmouth Park on June 19 following a fast workout on the Belmont Park main track Friday morning.

Unified, working alone, was caught by Daily Racing Form going six furlongs in 1:11.80, with a seven-furlong gallop-out in 1:25.80. Exercise rider Kelvin Pahal, who was aboard the older horse Effinex earlier in the morning, was up.

ELMONT, N.Y. – Outwork came a long way in a short time during the first half of the year, and on Friday morning, he began his first steps toward his racing campaign in the second half of the year.

For the 57th straight day no one hit the Golden Pick 6 jackpot on Thursday. The jackpot will start at $1,286,839 for Friday’s races, as the wager closes in on a mandatory distribution Sunday.

Tickets with six winners Thursday returned $2,278.10 for a 20-cent wager. The Golden Pick 6 jackpot is paid only when there is a single ticket with all six winners.

With 12 races and the Golden Pick 6 distribution, Golden Gate will have an early 12:45 p.m. first post for Sunday, closing day of the meet.