EAST BOSTON, Mass. – Patricia Moseley’s homebred Victor Laszlo goes for the three-peat when he takes on a field of seven other Massachusetts-breds in the $25,000 Last Dance Stakes at one mile and 70 yards Saturday with regular rider Tammi Piermarini aboard.

EAST BOSTON, Mass. – The New England Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association and the Massachusetts Thoroughbred Breeders Association will host their sixth annual charity golf tournament to benefit the retraining and rehoming of retired racehorses Aug. 21 at the Glen Ellen Country Club in Millis.

DEL MAR, Calif. – On Saturday, trainer Phil D’Amato will start the heavily favored Sunday Rules in the $200,000 Fleet Treat Stakes for California-bred 3-year-old fillies over seven furlongs at Del Mar. A win is expected.

“She’s set to run a smasher,” D’Amato said.

Horses entered in the Aug. 2 Whitney Stakes and Aug. 23 Travers Stakes at Saratoga Race Course in New York will be subject to the “enhanced security protocols” that the New York Racing Association and New York Gaming Commission have put in place for a number of Grade 1 races over the past several years, the organizations announced Thursday.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – About a dozen flat-screen televisions and the same number of picnic tables were damaged when lightning struck and toppled parts of a tree following the races Wednesday at Saratoga. Fortunately, no people were in the area.

The lightning also destroyed a hot dog stand and knocked out power to a backyard mutuel bay.

OPELOUSAS, La. – In a case of mistaken identity, Evangeline Downs’s stewards disqualified the wrong horse in Thursday night’s fourth race. The matter was quickly rectified, but not before resulting in a second superfecta payoff.

EAST BOSTON, Mass. – It’s all about the bloodlines in this game, so it was no surprise to find apprentice jockey Michael Ritvo in the winner’s circle with his first mount at Suffolk Downs on Wednesday.

Although he was raised in south Florida and began his career in March at Gulfstream Park, the 19-year-old Ritvo’s New England roots run deep. He is the son of former New England rider and trainer Tim Ritvo, now the president of Gulfstream Park, and Kathy Ritvo, who grew up on the backstretch of the local tracks as the daughter of owners and the sister of jockeys and trainers.

Ide Be Cool could be on a collision course with the Grade 2, $400,000 Super Derby at Louisiana Downs. The reigning Louisiana-bred Horse of the Year is being pointed for the race’s local prep, the $100,000 Prelude on Aug. 2, after recently improving his career record to 7 for 7.

Ide Be Cool faced older horses for the first time in a July 13 allowance at his base of Louisiana Downs. He led throughout for a half-length win in the six-furlong race, his first start since March 1. For the score, Ide Be Cool equaled his career-best 92 Beyer Speed Figure.

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. – During the past decade, Chicago-based trainer Jim DiVito has gotten better and better at preparing 2-year-olds to win their first start at Arlington. So far this summer, he has been perfect.

Even though we have seen a lot of Medal Count this year, there is a lot we still don’t know about him. His best distance? His preferred racing surface? And, to cut to the chase, where he fits in the 3-year-old division?

Even his trainer, Dale Romans, isn’t sure about the first two questions. “He can do just about anything,” Romans said. “I really don’t know.”