Tapiture will be making his first start in Texas on Monday when he runs in the Grade 3, $200,000 Lone Star Park Handicap, but he should feel right at home. His trainer, Steve Asmussen, has a division at the Dallas-area track. Asmussen also has a residence near Lone Star and ranks as the track’s all-time winningest trainer. Asmussen also notched a Lone Star Handicap win in 2013 with Master Rick.

AUBURN, Wash. – An anticipated rematch between the speedy 3-year-olds Prime Engine and Trackattacker will have to wait. Prime Engine will start Sunday in the $50,000 Auburn Handicap at Emerald Downs, but Trackattacker, the fastest 2-year-old at Emerald last summer until Prime Engine eclipsed him in the season-ending Gottstein Futurity, will not.

ELMONT, N.Y. – Last year, John Velazquez won the Grade 1 Metropolitan Handicap with a horse who had won the Belmont Stakes with a different rider the previous year.

Velazquez is hoping to do the same thing this year when he rides 2014 Belmont Stakes winner Tonalist in the $1.25 million Met Mile on the undercard of the June 6 Belmont Stakes. Velazquez will ride Tonalist for the first time in the Met Mile, replacing Joel Rosario, who was aboard for victories in last year’s Belmont Stakes and Jockey Club Gold Cup, and Joe Bravo, aboard for a win in the Grade 3 Westchester on May 2.

Southern Honey will be making her first start since finishing sixth in the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint last fall when facing nine others here in the Memorial Day feature, the Grade 3, $100,000 Winning Colors Stakes.

Trained by Rusty Arnold, Southern Honey shows six workouts at Keeneland toward her seasonal debut as defending champion in the Winning Colors. The daughter of Colonel John won the Winning Colors last spring as a 3-year-old.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Ride On Curlin, runner-up in the 2014 Preakness, is on another break after coming out of his last start “a little banged up,” according to trainer Billy Gowan.

Ride On Curlin finished last of nine, beaten 22 lengths, in the Grade 2 Alysheba on the May 1 Kentucky Oaks program.

“He’s just got some wear and tear,” said Gowan. “We’re giving him 60 days on the farm and will evaluate him from there.”

ARCADIA, Calif. – Eight stakes winners from two states as well as Brazil and France are among the projected field of 10 fillies and mares for Monday’s $300,000 Gamely Stakes at Santa Anita.

The Grade 1 Gamely, run at 1 1/8 miles on turf, will have two shippers from the East Coast in Danza Cavallo and Hard Not to Like.

ELMONT, N.Y. – Liam’s Map, unraced since winning the Harlan’s Holiday last December, worked a solid half-mile in 48.63 seconds over the Belmont Park training track Friday in company with the graded stakes winner Blofeld.

It was the second work at Belmont for Liam’s Map, who had worked four previous times at Jimmy Crupi’s farm in Ocala, Fla.

“He’s pretty far along,” Pletcher said. “Jim put a couple of good works into him. We’re seeing the results of that here. He seems to be pretty fit from his couple of works.”

ARCADIA, Calif. – A Smart Strike filly purchased for $1.25 million at Monday’s Fasig-Tipton Midlantic sale of 2-year-olds in training in Timonium, Md., will be trained in Southern California by Simon Callaghan.

Callaghan said on Thursday that the filly is scheduled to arrive at his Santa Anita stable June 2. She will be owned by a partnership Callaghan declined to disclose.

The filly was purchased Monday by Ben McElroy as agent and was sent to a farm in Kentucky, Callaghan said.

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. – Who in the Chicago racing scene before this past winter had heard of Vicente Gudiel, the apprentice rider who arrived at Hawthorne in December and won the riding title there at the winter-spring meet? No one, basically, and now it is happening again – another obscure rider landing on the Chicago circuit and quickly making his mark.

Belmont Park on Friday
Weather: Clear
Track: Fast
Temperature: 57

ELMONT, N.Y. – Only six of the 11 potential Belmont Stakes starters are currently stabled at Belmont Park. Four of those six worked for the June 6 race on Friday: trainer Todd Pletcher’s trio of Materiality, Carpe Diem, and Madefromlucky and Kiaran McLaughlin’s Frosted, the sneaky-good fourth-place finisher in the Kentucky Derby.