ELMONT, N.Y. - The Lumber Guy, winner of the Grade 2 Jerome, is getting a little freshening on owner Barry Schwartz’s farm before returning for a summer campaign.

The Lumber Guy, a New York-bred son of Grand Slam, finished sixth in the Peter Pan on May 12 and shortly thereafter was sent by trainer Mike Hushion to Schwartz’s Stonewall Farm in Granite Springs, N.Y.

Hushion said The Lumber Guy wasn’t desperate for a break, but had he gone on with him “he might have been. Hopefully, this will sweeten him up for the rest of the year.”

ELMONt, N.Y. - Trainer Todd Pletcher said Friday that Awesome Maria came out of her third-place finish in Monday’s Grade 1 Ogden Phipps in good order and could be a candidate for either the $750,000 Delaware Handicap at 1 1/4 miles on July 21 or the $200,000 Molly Pitcher at 1 1/16 miles at Monmouth on July 29.

Pletcher said since Awesome Maria has won several races at 1 1/8 miles, he doesn’t see the 1 1/4 miles of the Del Cap being an issue “as long as she gets along with the Delaware surface. We’ve had pretty good luck shipping in there.”

OCEANPORT, N.J. 0 The Don Bielak barn lays it all on the line Sunday with Miss Tallahassee in the $60,000 Open Mind Handicap for New Jersey-bred fillies and mares at Monmouth Park.

It's all you can do when you only train one horse.

"The intention has always been to have more than one," Bielak said. "We haven't had it yet."

The six-furlong Open Mind attracted seven runners with Miss Tallahassee and Kendrick Carmouche breaking from post 2.

ELMONT, N.Y. – Though he is not running in the Belmont Stakes, Wood Memorial winner Gemologist has recently resumed training at Belmont Park with an eye toward a summer return to the races.

Gemologist, trained by Todd Pletcher for WinStar Farm, went into the Kentucky Derby undefeated from five starts. He was the third choice in the Derby at 8-1. Unfortunately, he never fired and finished a distant 16th behind I’ll Have Another.

A couple of days later, he was diagnosed with a badly bruised foot and missed a little training time, which ruled out a start in the Belmont.

AUBURN, Wash. -- The first stakes race of the meeting for 3-year-old colts and geldings will be one of many challenges facing participants in the National Handicapping Championship qualifier Sunday at Emerald Downs. The 10 Emerald races are mandatory plays in the contest, with cash prizes and five trips to the final in Las Vegas up for grabs.

Quiet Oasis, the winner of the Grade 3 Wilshire Handicap in April and second in the Grade 1 Gamely Handicap on May 26, could make one more start at the current spring-summer meeting.

Trainer Ben Cecil said an appearance in the $150,000 Royal Heroine Stakes over a mile on turf on July 7 is a possibility, depending on how quickly the filly recovers from a grueling race in the Gamely.

“She came out really good, but a little tired,” he said. “We could possibly run in the Royal Heroine. We’ll see how she is.”

Acclamation, the champion older male of 2011, breezed a mile on turf in 1:41.20 on Friday, his final major exercise before an expected 2012 debut in the $250,000 Charles Whittingham Handicap next Saturday, June 9.

Acclamation worked a mile on turf for the second consecutive Friday with the stablemate Norvsky, but the circumstances of the two workouts were opposite.

On May 25, Acclamation had the lead and Norvsky was the trailing horse.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. – Yuichi Fukunaga, a top rider from Japan who won the Grade 1 American Oaks aboard Cesario at Betfair Hollywood Park in 2005, will ride in California for at least two months beginning in July, jockey’s agent Brian Beach said.

Beach said that the 35-year-old Fukunaga is in the process of finalizing work documents and hopes to begin riding at Hollywood Park around July 1. Fukunaga will ride through the Del Mar meeting, which runs from July 18 to Sept. 5.

Jockey Alfredo Contreras has been a mainstay at tracks in Texas and Louisiana the past five years. But the mounts he has on Sunday’s card at Lone Star Park will be his first this year in North America.

Contreras, a 27-year-old native of Mexico, had an opportunity to ride in Saudi Arabia through the fall and into the spring. He was under contract to Prince Sultan bin Mohammed bin Saud al Kabeer, and Contreras said he rode at the racetrack in Rwah, Saudi Arabia.

OCEANPORT, N.J. – Presious Passion passed the first test. The next assignment will be much tougher.

A popular 9-year-old turf star, Presious Passion showed trainer Mary Hartmann enough in his comeback last month to warrant a shot in the Grade 2, $200,000 Monmouth Stakes on June 10, a race he captured in 2009.

Presious Passion finished seventh in the Elkwood Stakes, his first start since January 2011.