There’s little doubt that Utley possesses the pedigree to be a superior racehorse. A son of Smart Strike, Utley is a half-brother to Group 1 or Grade 1 winners Rainbow View and Just as Well, along with the Grade 3 winner Winning View. His dam, No Matter What, a daughter of the great Nureyev, won the Grade 1 Del Mar Oaks on turf.

ALTOONA, Iowa – Prairie Meadows stages a pair of 2-year-old stakes on Saturday night, the $75,000 Prairie Gold Lassie for fillies and the $75,000 Prairie Gold Juvenile, which drew eight colts and geldings. With both races contested at 5 1/2 furlongs, talented shippers from Kentucky, Illinois, and Minnesota aim to measure their talent against some strong locally based runners.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Zo Impressive and Disposablepleasure separated themselves from the rest of a field that included Acorn winner Contested when they finished one-two in the Grade 1 Mother Goose last month at Belmont Park. But when the two talented 3-year-old fillies meet again in Saturday’s Grade 1 Coaching Club American Oaks at Saratoga, the race figures to be anything but a two-horse affair.

SHAKOPEE, Minn. – In addition to camel and ostrich races, the $50,000 John Bullit Stakes will be contested over a mile and sixteenth on the turf course on Extreme Race Day at Canterbury Park on Saturday. Several contenders in this closely matched field are coming into the contest riding winning streaks, including Arlington shipper Mr. Mischief.

Fresh off a victory in the $114,000 Black Tie Affair Handicap for Illinois-breds at Arlington, Mr. Mischief has not trailed at a single call in 2012 and will try to take advantage of what has recently been a speed-favoring turf course.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Last October, it seemed more than likely that Bear It’s Time’s racing career was over.

“She pulled a ligament galloping on the main track,” said trainer Reade Baker, who had been preparing Bear It’s Time for the Ruling Angel, an overnight stakes that had been delayed by one week and ultimately was discarded. “The initial prognosis was not good. But so far, she’s escaped the bullet.”

On Sunday, Bear It’s Time will make her seasonal bow in the Ontario Matron, a 1 1/16-mile race for fillies and mares that offers Grade 3 status and a purse of $150,000.

The story of Japanese jockey Yuichi Fukunaga is a simple one – if by simple the reader’s frame of reference is a melodramatic Russian classic or John Irving novel in full psychological bloom. The plot twists like this:

You are the son of a sports legend whose career is cut tragically short by a crippling accident. As a result, you come of age knowing only a father who is disabled and can barely communicate, totally disconnected from the accomplishments that made him a national hero.

DEL MAR, Calif. – Opening day at Del Mar has become the event of the summer in San Diego County. Not the sporting event of the summer. The event, period.

Despite premium prices for admission to the turf club, a stiff $40 charge for valet parking, $9 for a can of beer, double digits for a margarita, long lines to bet, eat, drink, and for the bathroom, and a lagging economy, fans just keep coming because opening day at Del Mar has taken on the aura as the place to be. Del Mar’s slogan is “Cool as ever.” Boy, was it ever on Wednesday.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Essence Hit Man was the champ, but favored Eternal Rule had never lost. The two gifted sprinters dueled through the stretch Wednesday night at Woodbine in $174,900 Bold Venture Stakes, with Essence Hit Man coming out on top in the Grade 3 test.

DEL MAR, Calif. - Staying focused has made a stakes winner of My Best Brother.

Since the colt was fitted with sheepskin cheek pieces in late May, he is unbeaten in three starts, including the second division of Wednesday’s $109,900 Oceanside Stakes at Del Mar.

Ridden by Martin Garcia, My Best Brother ($14) led throughout the one-mile Oceanside Stakes for 3-year-olds on turf, holding off a challenge from Tones. Old Time Hockey was third in the field of eight.

DEL MAR, Calif. - A stable loaded with 3-year-olds now has a runner for major turf stakes.

Midnight Crooner, trained by Bob Baffert, won his first stakes in the $109,300 first division of the Oceanside Stakes on Wednesday, the opening day of the Del Mar meeting.