ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Trainer Sid Attard appears to be holding a strong hand in Wednesday’s Woodbine headliner, when he will run the favorites Miss Scarlett Road and Total Bliss in the 6 1/2-furlong Ontario-sired allowance for nonwinners of three.

Miss Scarlett Road defeated nonwinners-of-two Ontario-sired allowance stock by four lengths in her second outing of the year May 4. Sixteen days later, she was a stalking second behind gate-to-wire winner Blues Dancing in the seven-furlong Lady Angela Stakes.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – The Albany Stakes may never have been used as a prep race for the Grade 1 Travers, but that could be the case this year if Willy Beamin runs as expected on Wednesday.

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. – Arlington Million winner Little Mike will be considered for the Grade 1 Joe Hirsch Invitational at Belmont Park on Sept. 29 as his final prep for the Breeders’ Cup five weeks later, trainer Dale Romans said, although which Breeders’ Cup event will likely be determined by how the Hirsch unfolds.

VANCOUVER, British Columbia – Take your pick in what appears to be a wide-open feature at Hastings on Wednesday. The 6 1/2-furlong allowance race for 3-year-olds and up that have never won two races, or B.C.-bred nonwinners of three, drew nine horses and goes race 7 on the eight-race card that begins at 3:30 p.m. Pacific.

Trainer Peter Gregory thinks he has a good shot at winning his third British Columbia Derby at Hastings with High End Man, who was an impressive winner of the Richmond Derby Trial last Friday. Gregory won the Grade 3 race two years in a row for Empire Farms with Ever Steady in 1990 and Bolulight in 1991. High End Man appears to be peaking at exactly the right time. His final time for the 1 1/16-mile race was an excellent 1:42.86, less than a second off the track record of 1:42.20 set by Coral Isle in 1973. High End Man was coming off a disappointing third-place finish in the B.C.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Trainer Roger Attfield took his time with Forte dei Marmi after the 6-year-old gelding finished sixth when traveling to Virginia for the 1 3/16-mile Colonial Turf Cup on June 16. On Sunday, Attfield’s patience paid major dividends as Forte dei Marmi rallied to score by three-quarters of a length here in the Grade 2, $264,000 Sky Classic over 1 1/4 miles on the turf course.

There are few clues as to which of the seven 2-year-old fillies in the lineup for Wednesday’s $50,000 Our Mims Stakes at Delaware Park is best suited to handle two turns and the one-mile distance. One statistic, however, jumps out.

DEL MAR, Calif. – The sale of top Pacific Classic contender Richard’s Kid by Zabeel International to a partnership led by Paul Boghossian’s Triple B Farms took less than 24 hours on Friday and Saturday and surprised many of the participants because of its rapid completion.

Bobby Handy looks like the one to catch and beat in a $30,000 claiming race that will serve as Wednesday’s feature at Northlands Park. The one-mile race for 3-year-olds and up drew six horses and goes as the fourth race.

DEL MAR, Calif. – Fueled by a pair of pick six carryovers last week, Del Mar’s average overall handle continued to rise this meeting, to an average of $11,696,306 per day, a healthy 6 percent hike from an average of $11,032,487 through the comparable first five weeks of last year’s meet.