Trainer Dallas Stewart said Wednesday that the July 13 Virginia Derby at Colonial Downs is the likely next start for Golden Soul, the Kentucky Derby runner-up who finished ninth, beaten nearly 11 lengths, in the Belmont Stakes last Saturday.

“I don’t want to shorten him up,” said Stewart, alluding to the 1 1/4-mile distance of the Grade 2, $500,000 Virginia Derby, which will mark the grass debut for Golden Soul. “We can run there and then go back in the Travers” on dirt on Aug. 24 at Saratoga. “We’d be turf-to-dirt in the Travers, which might be pretty interesting.”

INGLEWOOD, Calif. – There was a time last fall when Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert was resigned to losing the 3-year-old colt Paynter to disease.

Paynter won the Haskell Invitational at Monmouth Park in July 2012, but was hospitalized for most of the next two months with colic and laminitis.

“I kept telling my wife, ‘Horses don’t survive this,’ ” Baffert said Wednesday.

Paynter fought through illness and spent the rest of the fall regaining strength. The colt rejoined Baffert’s stable in late December and resumed workouts in February.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Six older horses are entered in the $500,000 Stephen Foster Handicap, the Grade 1 race that has become the signature leadoff event for the post-Triple Crown half of the racing season in North America.

Fort Larned and Successful Dan are the co-highweights in the 1 1/8-mile race, which also figures to have Ron the Greek and Take Charge Indy among the top wagering choices. Golden Ticket, a dead-heat winner of the Travers Stakes last summer, is one of the two outsiders, along with Pool Play.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Three of the four top contenders in the Stephen Foster Handicap bring forth essentially the same running style – on or near the lead – and how it all plays out is a matter of keen interest to Pat Byrne, trainer of Take Charge Indy, one of that trio.

Along with Take Charge Indy, Successful Dan and Fort Larned also have an outstanding turn of foot that will be a critical part of race strategy when the Grade 1, $500,000 Stephen Foster is run Saturday night at Churchill Downs for the 32nd time.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Four allowance races on a Friday card might be the norm at, say, Keeneland or Saratoga, but it’s something of a rarity at Churchill Downs.

The happy exception to that rule comes this Friday at Churchill, where a $57,000, third-level sprint anchors a solid 11-race twilight program that starts at 2:45 p.m. Eastern. The 6 1/2-furlong race is carded as the 10th.

Working backward from the feature, here’s a quick rundown of that quartet:

The $400,000 Oklahoma Derby has been reinstated as a Grade 3 race for its Sept. 29 running in the most significant change to the Remington Park stakes schedule that was released on Wednesday. In all, there will be 32 stakes worth nearly $3.4 million during the 67-date meet that opens Aug. 16. The season runs through Dec. 15.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – The Ontario Racing Commission has quarantined two of Woodbine’s barns and implemented shipping restrictions after five horses stabled in Barn 1 tested positive for the equine herpesvirus.

Mucho Macho Man, a close second to Fort Larned in last year's Breeders' Cup Classic, makes his first start since January in Friday's third race at Belmont Park, a $90,000 overnight stakes at 1 1/16 miles over the main track.

Jockey Diego Saenz registered his 1,000th career Thoroughbred win in North America in Saturday night’s fourth race at Evangeline Downs, where he is the leading rider. His first Thoroughbred win came in 2004 at Retama Park.

Lone Star-based jockey Gerado Mora is scheduled to resume riding Saturday, said his agent, Toby Cathey. Mora has been out with an infection in his leg following a bout with the flu.

Mora missed last weekend’s races and was not named to ride Thursday or Friday, as entries for those cards closed before he received clearance from his doctors on Monday. Mora won the riding title at the Sam Houston Race Park meet that closed in March.