Bayern, who won the Woody Stephens Stakes on the Belmont Stakes undercard last month, worked five furlongs on Polytrack in 1:02.80 Wednesday at Del Mar in preparation for a scheduled start July 27 in the Grade 1 Haskell Invitational at Monmouth.

Bayern worked at 6:30 a.m., before the mid-morning renovation break.

“He went good,” said his trainer, Bob Baffert. “The track was really slow early this morning. He was just cruising around there.”

Summer Front is on the road again. After shipping to Santa Anita to finish second in the Grade 1 Shoemaker Mile last month, he is returning anew from New York for the Grade 1, $300,000 Eddie Read Stakes on Sunday at Del Mar, trainer Christophe Clement said Wednesday from Saratoga.

“He’s leaving today and will be with you tonight,” Clement said.

Joe Bravo, who rode Summer Front in the Shoemaker Mile, will be back aboard, Clement said.

“I thought he gave him a very good ride in the Shoemaker, and he knows the horse very well,” Clement said.

DEL MAR, Calif. – Caracortado is entered Friday at Del Mar. One might normally say Caracortado is racing Friday at Del Mar, but why risk jinxing things? He’s gotten this far before in recent years, but repeated setbacks have kept him from the races.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – The 146th meeting at Saratoga could answer these questions: Is less more, and will more mean less?

Hoping to emphasize quality over quantity at the 40-day Saratoga meet that begins Friday, the New York Racing Association plans to run approximately 15 to 20 fewer races than the 420 conducted in 2013. Martin Panza, NYRA’s senior vice president of racing operations, said he wants to write fewer cheaper races if possible, but he also knows he’s dealing with a foal crop that has shrunk over the last several years, making for fewer high-level horses.

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. – Noble Mission, one of the better older horses in Europe this season, is under consideration for the Arlington Million, Juddmonte Farms racing manager Teddy Grimthorpe said Wednesday.

Juddmonte has a strong older U.S.-based grass horse in Seek Again, but trainer Bill Mott said this week that Seek Again might bypass the Million in favor of the Fourstardave at Saratoga since Juddmonte had another horse potentially pointed to the Million.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – It is a virtual certainty that Todd Pletcher will win his 11th consecutive training title at Saratoga. Chad Brown, Christophe Clement, David Jacobson, Kiaran McLaughlin, Linda Rice, and Steve Asmussen also figure to be frequent visitors to the newly widened Saratoga winner’s circle.

But there are several under-the-radar trainers who, while they may not be vying for top honors in the standings, bear watching, perhaps paying big dividends when their horses win.

We’ll call these trainers the unusual suspects.

OCEANPORT, N.J. – The decision by owner-breeder Ron Winchell and trainer Steve Asmussen to run Untapable against males in the Haskell Invitational assures a packed grandstand on Monmouth Park’s biggest day of the year next Sunday. Despite Untapable’s presence, a good-sized crowd also is expected in the starting gate.

As of Wednesday, eight colts were preparing to take on the nation’s leading 3-year-old filly at 1 1/8 miles. Her main challenger figures to be Bayern, the winner of the Woody Stephens with a 107 Beyer Speed Figure for Bob Baffert.

OCEANPORT, N.J. – Trainer Edwin Broome will send out his 2-year-old New Jersey homebred Posse Dreamin for his third try in a maiden race Friday at Monmouth Park. So far, Posse Dreamin has finished second twice behind some high-priced stock.

In his debut at 4 1/2 furlongs June 7, Posse Dreamin chased home Souper Colossal, a $350,000 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga yearling purchase last summer who is trained by Eddie Plesa Jr. Posse Dreamin was beaten 1 3/4 lengths while finishing a length in front of the third-place Distinctivelyforu.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Though Saratoga boasts a rich stakes schedule, it is the 2-year-old program that truly makes this 40-day meet special.

One never knows from where racing’s next star will emerge, but the confluence of top barns from New York and Kentucky make it likely that at least one 2-year-old of significance will emerge from here.

The winners of all three Triple Crown races in 2012 had run here the previous summer. Last year saw the debuts of subsequent graded stakes winners Honor Code, Havana, Sweet Reason and Stopchargingmaria.

Friday’s $29,500 first-level allowance feature brings together an evenly matched group of Louisiana-breds. Witch Hunt, fourth in the Lafayette Stakes June 21, could be a slight favorite in the 5 1/2-furlong affair. The Brett Brinkman charge picked up a non-winners-of-two victory for a $20,000 claiming price in his only other start here this season. Jansen Melancon has the return call.