The three Triple Crown races were won by three different horses, each of whom won another major Grade 1 race earlier in the year. Their similar résumés through the first six months of the year mean that Creator, Exaggerator, and Nyquist all seemingly will go into the second half of the year with an equal chance to wrest the title as champion 3-year-old male, unlike last year, when that title and Horse of the Year were signed, sealed, and delivered as soon as American Pharoah swept the Triple Crown.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Effinex, the solid favorite for the Grade 1, $500,000 Stephen Foster Handicap on Saturday, arrived here Sunday via the equine charter flight that brought a planeload of Kentucky horses back from New York. Trainer Jimmy Jerkens was scheduled to arrive here later in the week to oversee the horse’s final preparations. Gary Stevens has the mount in place of Mike Smith, who is committed to Songbird on Saturday in the Summertime Oaks at Santa Anita.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The whirlwind existence of Steve Asmussen brought him from New York to Louisville on Sunday, and contrary to his usual itinerary, there won’t be any quick trips home to Texas this week.

“School’s out, so Julie and the boys will be here Friday on their way to Saratoga,” said Asmussen, referring to his wife and three sons.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – The Grade 3-winning sprinter Skylander Girl has been retired from racing, trainer Alexander Patykewich said.

“She started getting a little bit of ankle on her, and I just don’t want to hurt her,” he said. “She’s been too good to me. I just retired her – it’s the easiest thing to do. She’s never had a needle put into her, she’s never been on Lasix, and I don’t want to start now. I could have kept her going, but I didn’t want to hurt her.”

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Several Queen’s Plate prospects were entered in allowance races last Saturday, and two of those horses appear to be on track for the July 3 classic.

Narrow Escape captured the Saturday opener with a front-running score in an Ontario-sired allowance race over 1 1/16 miles on Tapeta. It was Narrow Escape’s first start since winning an Ontario-sired maiden special weight last October.

“We’re delighted with the little horse,” said trainer Justin Nixon. “If he’s healthy, we’re going. You’re only 3 once. He’s come out of the race well.”

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Woodbine Oaks winner Neshama might run back in the $1 million Queen’s Plate at Woodbine on July 3, trainer Catherine Day Phillips said.

Neshama got a perfect trip under Eurico Da Silva to win the $500,000 Woodbine Oaks by a nose over a troubled Gamble’s Ghost on Sunday. The 1 1/8-mile Woodbine Oaks and Sunday’s 1 1/8-mile Plate Trial Stakes served as key local preps for the 1 1/4-mile Queen’s Plate.

The Golden Pick 6 ended the Golden Gate Fields meet with a whimper, not a bang Sunday when jockeys refused to ride on the turf course, forcing two races in the sequence to be switched from the turf to the main track.

Because the switch occurred after the sequence had started, the races were considered no-contests for the Golden Pick 6, and bettors were given all horses in both races. As a result, each winning ticket paid only $146.16 from the pool of $4,594,997. There were 31,438 winning tickets.

ELMONT, N.Y. - Trainer Bill Mott and his owners will have some decisions to make regarding the two horses he saddled to Grade 1 victories Saturday at Belmont Park.

Carina Mia won the Grade 1, $700,000 Acorn by 1 1/4 lengths, in the process upsetting Kentucky Oaks winner Cathryn Sophia, who finished third. Off the Tracks was second.

The victory was the first Grade 1 success for Carina Mia and her fourth overall victory from six starts. She ran a mile in 1:34.97 and earned a 98 Beyer Speed Figure for the performance.

ELMONT, N.Y. - Trainer Chad Brown enjoyed a sensational Belmont Stakes Day, winning four races on the card, topped by the Grade 1, $1 million Manhattan with Flintshire.

Brown also won the Easy Goer Stakes with Economic Model, an allowance race with the 3-year-old Connect, and another allowance race with Fundamental. That win was somewhat bittersweet as it came as the result of the Brown-trained Inordinate being disqualified in a highly questionable decision by the stewards.

ELMONT, N.Y. – Trainer Steve Asmussen won his first Belmont Stakes on Saturday, and he kept wanting to relive the moment over and over Saturday night and into the wee hours of Sunday morning.

 “I woke up every 15 minutes to watch the replay,” Asmussen said at his Belmont Park barn Sunday morning.