VANCOUVER, British Columbia – Go for Guinness took a huge step forward when he won the B.C. Cup Stellar’s Jay for British Columbia-breds on Aug. 5. If he continues his progress in Sunday’s $50,000 Richmond Derby Trial at Hastings, he’ll head into the Grade 3, $150,000 British Columbia Derby on Sept. 8 as one of the favorites.

Sharing the spotlight on Sunday’s eight-race card is the $50,000 Hong Kong Jockey Club for 3-year-old fillies, which serves as the final prep for the $100,000 B.C. Oaks, also on Sept. 8.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. — It’s nice when a trainer can use a $150,000 stakes race not only as a prep for bigger and better things, but also to teach his horse a thing or two along the way. Such was the case Friday at Saratoga, where trainer Chad Brown sent out his Grade 1 winner Dayatthespa to a comfortable 1 3/4-length decision over Wholelottashakin in the Yaddo Stakes.

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DEL MAR, Calif. – Reneesgotzip might have run too well when she won an allowance race at Del Mar last month in her first start since December.

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. – Dark Cove will be scratched from the $400,000 American St. Leger Stakes here Saturday because of filling in a tendon, co-owner Ken Ramsey said Friday.

Dark Cove was the 3-1 morning-line second choice behind English shipper Dandino in the long-distance turf race. Claimed by Ramsey and his wife, Sarah, for $50,000 in April 2012 and turned over to trainer Mike Maker, Dark Cove has won three straight graded 1 1/2-mile turf stakes – the Elkhorn, the Louisville, and the Stars and Stripes.

AUBURN, Wash. – Exclusive Diva, an undeniable force in sprint stakes at Emerald Downs, will try to carry her speed over a demanding nine furlongs Sunday when she headlines the $65,000 Emerald Distaff Handicap on the Longacres Mile undercard. A victory would further Exclusive Diva’s status as the Northwest’s leading older filly or mare, while a defeat would add fuel to the notion that route distances are beyond her scope.

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DEL MAR, Calif. – Back in March, on a wet Saturday at Lingfield Racecourse south of London, trainer Roger Varian’s thoughts turned to sunny Southern California.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Forte dei Marmi won last year’s Sky Classic Stakes, and will be looking to duplicate that feat in Sunday’s renewal of the 1 1/4-mile turf race for 3-year-olds and upward at Woodbine.

The eight-horse field for the Grade 2, $200,000 Sky Classic also includes Irish Mission, who will be looking to become the first filly to win the race since its current incarnation began in 1997.

Three-year-olds again will be the center of attention at Gulfstream Park’s traditional 2013-2014 meeting, with the Grade 1, $1 million Florida Derby the centerpiece of a record $10.75 million in stakes purses to be distributed. Dubbed the “champions meet,” it opens on Nov. 30, a day after Gulfstream’s inaugural summer meet ends.

Gulfstream, which will celebrate its 75th anniversary during the meet, is scheduled to race year-round.

The Claiming Crown, an eight-race event for horses that have started in claiming races in the past year, will be held at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Fla., through 2015, the organizers of the event announced Thursday in a joint release.

This year’s Claiming Crown, scheduled for Dec. 7 at Gulfstream, will be the second consecutive to be held at the track.

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. – Mull of Killough, one of six European runners in the Arlington Million, had a minor setback Thursday but went back to the track Friday, said trainer Jane Chapple-Hyam.

“He got cast in his stall during the early morning hours [Thursday] and wasn’t quite 100 percent, so we just walked and trotted him around the barn a bit,” said Chapple-Hyam. “He is fine now and ready to go. He went to the training track and walked two laps around [about a mile] and then cantered about 1,000 meters. We should be all set.”