BALTIMORE – No matter the temperature at Pimlico on Saturday, the heat is going to get turned up in the Grade 3, $150,000 Maryland Sprint Handicap, a six-furlong race loaded with early speed.

Action Andy, Manito, Warrioroftheroses, and Sage Valley all have sharp early speed, and with Action Andy and Manito drawn in posts 1 and 3, respectively, in the 10-horse field, they likely are committed to send. The potential race shape could benefit the likes of Hardened Wildcat and Candyman E, both of whom appear to be sitting on big efforts following lengthy breaks.

MIAMI – While the leaders of the local sprint division at Calder – Trinniberg, Jackson Bend, and Bahamian Squall – have the luxury of biding their time as they point towards the Grade 2 Smile on July 8, several of their contemporaries must still earn their way into the big event. Among them is Close It Out, who tops a field of 10 Smile prospects entered in Saturday’s $55,000 Champali Stakes.

ELMONT, N.Y. – Earl “Buzzy” Tenney, the longtime assistant to trainer Shug McGaughey, watched the Kentucky Derby two weeks ago from his Long Island home surrounded by family and friends.

Tenney, 61, admitted that a lot of people started “jumping around like kids” when Orb passed Normandy Invasion and splashed to a 2 1/2-length victory, giving McGaughey his long-awaited first Derby.

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VANCOUVER, British Columbia – It is tough to separate the eight older horses running in a $35,000 optional claimer that will serve as Saturday’s feature at Hastings. The 6 1/2-furlong sprint is the last of seven races carded, and an abundance of speed in the field could set things up nicely for Crew Leader.

Two of the most logical contenders in Saturday’s Grade 3, $100,000 Red Bank Stakes at Monmouth Park have been away from the races for a while. Za Approval has been idle since winning his first career stakes in the Grade 3 Appleton on March 30. Tune Me In, a two-time Grade 3 winner at Monmouth last season, will be making his first start since December.

Their absences are nowhere near as lengthy as that of Two Notch Road, a 6-year-old whose last race was in early October of his 3-year-old season.

If it seems like spring has arrived later than usual at Delaware Park, you’re right. Instead of its customary opening in mid to late April, or the Saturday after the Kentucky Derby, as was done last year, Delaware launches its abbreviated 2013 season Saturday in conjunction with the Preakness, which takes place some 90 miles down Interstate 95 in Baltimore.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – All eyes will be riveted Saturday on Pimlico – except, of course, when there are other races elsewhere to bet on and watch.

That will happen 11 times Saturday at Churchill Downs, where this whole Orb thing got started two weeks ago in the Kentucky Derby. In due deference to the second jewel of the Triple Crown, a race of considerably less importance than the Preakness will serve as the Churchill feature Saturday: The Keertana, a $65,000 overnight stakes, will have its first running when matching 10 filly-and-mare turf marathoners.

BALTIMORE – The morning after winning the Kentucky Derby with Orb, trainer Shug McGaughey stood under the shed row of Barn 43 at Churchill Downs, reflecting on his first Derby win and what it would mean two weeks hence in the Preakness Stakes.

“I’m glad I’ve got the target on my back,” McGaughey said. “I’m very comfortable being in that position.”

BALTIMORE - Pimlico Race Course will have a deep and diverse wagering menu for its Friday and Saturday cards that are topped by the respective Black-Eyed Susan and Preakness. Advance wagering on the Preakness will open Friday.

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Other wagers for Friday include the new Pimlico Special-Preakness Double, linking the Friday and Saturday stakes in an offering that replaces the Black-Eyed Susan-Preakness Double. It is a $1 minimum bet.

BALTIMORE - Though they will both try to stop Orb’s Triple Crown bid in Saturday’s Preakness, fellow Hall of Fame trainers Bob Baffert and D. Wayne Lukas were more than happy to welcome Shug McGaughey to the fraternity of Kentucky Derby-winning trainers.

[2013 PREAKNESS STAKES: Latest news, video, and more]