ETOBICOKE, Ontario – The European runners Second Step and Sheikhzayedroad are among the 20 nominees to the 78th running of the $1 million Canadian International on Oct. 18 at Woodbine.

Second Step, a 4-year-old trained by Luca Cumani, won a Group 1 fixture in his penultimate start in Germany and is coming off a fourth in the Group 1 Irish St. Leger.

Sheikhzayedroad made headlines here last year when he captured the Grade 1 Northern Dancer Turf. The 6-year-old is winless in seven starts this season against some formidable company in England and Dubai.

ELMONT, N.Y. – The conditions for Saturday’s Grade 1 Flower Bowl could be very similar to what they were in the Beverly D. last month at Arlington, which could play in the favor of Stephanie’s Kitten and Watsdachances in the 1 1/4-mile turf race. Stephanie’s Kitten won last year’s Flower Bowl over firm turf.

ELMONT, N.Y. – The American-bred, European-based Nemoralia adds intrigue to an already wide-open edition of the Grade 1, $400,000 Frizette for 2-year-old fillies, which awards a fees-paid berth in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies.

Nemoralia, a daughter of More Than Ready, is 2 for 4, with wins in Britain over synthetic and turf. Her trainer, Jeremy Noseda, believes Nemoralia can handle the mile and the dirt of the Frizette, but he’s worried about the potential for a wet track.

ELMONT, N.Y. – Ralis shipped across the country to win the Grade 1 Hopeful at Saratoga on Sept. 7, and he made another cross-country ship on Wednesday for Saturday’s Grade 1, $500,000 Champagne Stakes for juvenile males.

Ralis doesn’t act like a 2-year-old, according to trainer Doug O’Neill.

ELMONT, N.Y. – Multiple Grade 1 stakes winner Honor Code will be the horse to beat in Saturday’s Grade 2, $400,000 Kelso Handicap, but California shipper Appealing Tale will be the horse to catch in the one-turn, one-mile race.

Appealing Tale, trained by Peter Miller, is coming off a front-running victory in the Grade 2 Pat O’Brien going seven furlongs at Del Mar on Aug. 22.

ELMONT, N.Y. – Todd Pletcher has won virtually every Grade 1 race run in New York. To this point, however, the Jockey Club Gold Cup has eluded him.

Pletcher has run 13 horses in 10 editions of the Gold Cup. He finished second with Lawyer Ron (to Curlin) in 2007 and finished second again in 2011 with Stay Thirsty, who was beaten a head by Flat Out.

On Saturday, Pletcher will try again when he sends out the pair of Constitution and Coach Inge in the $1 million Jockey Club Gold Cup, a stepping-stone to the $5 million Breeders’ Cup Classic at Keeneland on Oct. 31.

ARCADIA, Calif. – The older horses Catch a Flight and Twentytwentyvision will be sidelined this fall after suffering recent injuries.

Catch a Flight underwent nuclear scan tests earlier this week that revealed a developing injury to a condylar bone that will require “a few months off,” trainer Richard Mandella said.

Twentytwentyvision is recovering from a bizarre incident Sunday in which he got his face stuck in the front of a gate and suffered a severe lip injury that required more than an hour of stitches to mend.

Another chapter will be tacked onto the remarkable story of Edward Boerjan when he saddles Kalamos for the second race Friday at Keeneland.

Kalamos, purchased here last November for a mere $3,000 at the horses-of-racing-age sale, was 50-1 when capturing the $150,000 Old Friends Stakes on Sept. 16 at Kentucky Downs, giving Boerjan easily the biggest coup of his intermittent career as an owner and trainer.

As dawn broke Wednesday morning, there was still no sign of D. Wayne Lukas at his longtime Barn 44 headquarters at Churchill Downs.

But it wasn’t going to be much longer, said Lukas’s assistant, Bas Nicholl. And in any event, “he’s already back in full command of the ship” while giving instructions by phone from his home in the east end of Louisville, added Nicholl.

ARCADIA, Calif. – The losses are starting to mount for Kobe’s Back in recent months, giving added urgency to his appearance in Saturday’s $300,000 Santa Anita Sprint Championship.

The Grade 1 Santa Anita Sprint Championship will be the final start for Kobe’s Back before a potential trip to Keeneland for the Breeders’ Cup Sprint on Oct. 31. The objectives are clear.

“I need to see a big race, a first or a second,” trainer Peter Eurton said. “Otherwise, who are we fooling?”