It would be hard to get off to a better start than trainer Joshua Stein.

The 26-year-old nephew of Roger Stein took over his uncle’s stable after saddling Cleverly Beverly for a maiden win at Pleasanton on July 6 as the last horse to run officially in his uncle’s name.

Cleverly Beverly made her first start for Joshua Stein last Thursday and brought him his first victory as a trainer, defeating Star Mist, who had beaten her June 15. Also in the field was Giant Journey, who had defeated Cleverly Beverly in a May 23 sprint.

While Steve Asmussen has already circled the Sept. 20 Pennsylvania Derby on his calendar for Tapiture’s next start, John Sadler and Mike Maker, who train the West Virginia Derby second- and third-place finishers, Candy Boy and Vicar’s In Trouble, are going to take some time to consider their next steps.

Molly Morgan, the winner of the Grade 2 Fleur de Lis in June at Churchill Downs, figures as a solid favorite when the Grade 3 Gardenia Stakes is run Saturday at Ellis Park in western Kentucky.

Molly Morgan is one of nine fillies and mares entered in the $100,000 Gardenia, the annual marquee race of the Ellis meet. The 5-year-old mare will be ridden by Jesus Castanon when breaking from the rail in the one-mile race. She most recently ran fifth in the Grade 1 Delaware Handicap.

Jockey Brice Blanc remains sidelined after being injured in a spill on the turf at Del Mar on July 25.

Blanc was aboard Yes She’s Unusual when the filly broke down badly in a sprint race. Blanc was released from the hospital several hours after the incident, but has not ridden since. He is not booked to ride through Friday.

Blanc could return next weekend to ride Miss Serendipity in Sunday’s $250,000 John Mabee Stakes on turf, but no official timetable has been set for his return, according to his agent, Susan McBrayer.

Her Emmynency, a stylish winner of a maiden race over 5 1/2 furlongs on Saturday in her first career start, will make her stakes debut in the $300,000 Del Mar Debutante on Aug. 30.

Chris Davis, assistant to trainer Mike Stidham, said on Sunday that Her Emmynency is a filly who should thrive with the seven-furlong distance of the Grade 1 Debutante.

“It’s always nice to win first time out,” he said. “We thought she’d run well.

“She’s worked behind horses. She’s had dirt in her face and she’s settled. I think the farther the better with her.”

DEL MAR, Calif. - The final races of Iotapa’s 2014 season were set when she won her second consecutive Grade 1 race in Saturday’s $300,250 Clement Hirsch Stakes for fillies and mares at Del Mar.

The Hirsch is part of the Breeders’ Cup’s Win and You’re In program and gives Iotapa a fees-paid berth to the Breeders’ Cup Distaff at Santa Anita in the autumn. For a prep race, Iotapa is expected to start in the $300,000 Zenyatta Stakes at Santa Anita on Sept. 27.

“It’s good spacing throughout,” said Larry Benavidez, assistant to trainer John Sadler.

DEL MAR, Calif. – For the last two months, trainer Ron McAnally has targeted the $250,000 John Mabee Stakes at Del Mar on Aug. 10 for Miss Serendipity, the winner of the Grade 1 Gamely Stakes at Santa Anita in May.

McAnally thinks so highly of Miss Serendipity that she is looked upon as a candidate for the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf at Santa Anita this fall. How Miss Serendipity preps for that race this month is a concern for McAnally.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. -  Having captured her second Grade 1 win of the year in Saturday’s Test Stakes at Saratoga, Sweet Reason may look to contend for a divisional title against Untapable in the Grade 1, $1 million Cotillion Stakes at Parx Racing on Sept. 20.

Trainer Leah Gyarmati said Sunday morning that even before the Test, the Cotillion, a 1 1/16-mile race around two turns, was a race she and owner Jeff Treadway had considered for Sweet Reason, a daughter of Kentucky Derby winner Street Sense.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - If you thought Saturday’s Grade 1, $1.5 million Whitney was a good race, then you might want to make reservations to be at Saratoga on Aug. 30 for the Grade 1, $600,000 Woodward Stakes.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - A rematch between Palace and Happy My Way, the one-two finishers in Saturday’s Grade 1 Alfred G. Vanderbilt Handicap, will likely have to wait until the fall as both horses have the Grade 1 Vosburgh at Belmont on Sept. 27 as their objectives.

Linda Rice, the trainer of Palace, has not completely ruled out running back in the Grade 1 Forego here on Aug. 30, but said given the schedule that her colt has maintained, she might prefer to give him some time.