OCEANPORT, N.J. – Trainer Tom Bush hopes he made the right call for Get Stormy when he opted to skip the Grade 1 Manhattan at Belmont Park, his home track, in favor of the Grade 3, $250,000 Monmouth Stakes on Sunday at Monmouth Park.

The Monmouth Stakes is the prep for the meet’s premier grass stakes: the Grade 1 United Nations on July 2.

Bush considered several factors, and distance was a key concern. The Manhattan on Saturday was 1 1/4 miles; the Monmouth Stakes is 1 1/8 miles and appears a better fit for Get Stormy.

VANCOUVER, British Columbia – There are no stakes races on Sunday’s card at Hastings, but a couple of first-level, $50,000 optional claiming races for 3-year-olds are worth a closer look.

The third race drew six colts and geldings going 1 1/16 miles, and Ascot Graduation winner Too Much Dirt could end up being a modest favorite. Too Much Dirt is trained by Craig MacPherson who also trains Belle of Evangeline, the possible favorite in the seventh race for 3-year-old fillies.

Separate Fire, the undefeated winner of the Grade 1 Kindergarten Futurity on May 22, is the leading 2-year-old Quarter Horse among a massive 27-horse string that trainer Paul Jones will start in 12 divisions of the Ed Burke Million Futurity trials at Los Alamitos on Sunday evening. For the record there are 76 horses starting for other trainers in the trials.

“We’ll be busy,” Jones said.

AUBURN, Wash. – A fleet of sprinters will try to outrun some hard-knocking routers Sunday at Emerald Downs in the $50,000 Washington State Legislators Handicap. At 6 1/2 furlongs, it’s the final one-turn race for fillies and mares on the 2011 stakes schedule, and the owners and trainers of the 11 runners share a similar goal – to remain relevant as the distances get longer over the balance of the meeting.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – A little more than a year ago, Awesome Act was 11-1 to win the Kentucky Derby.

Now all he seeks is respectability. A prime chance to restore lost luster comes Sunday, when Awesome Act heads a short field in the nominal feature at Churchill Downs, a $57,900, second-level allowance that anchors a 10-race card.

Santa Anita will refurbish its main track this summer to reduce the clay content and add sand, a project that could begin in the next week in a test plot in the seven-furlong chute, pending ongoing discussions between the racetrack and the California Horse Racing Board.

Track president George Haines said Friday that conversations with the racing board are focusing on the details for the renovation, which would be done on a portion of the track not required for daily training.

AUBURN, Wash. – Cliff’s Secret is one of the fastest horses at Emerald Downs, an undefeated sprinter with a big-time pedigree, yet many observers, even those closest to the horse, are conflicted about her true ability.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario − Four American shippers, headed by Twinspired, are among the nine 3-year-olds in Sunday’s $150,000 Victoria Park Stakes at Woodbine.

A nine-furlong race, the Victoria Park is not restricted to Canadian-breds, but it is the last opportunity to prep for the June 26 Queen’s Plate in a local stakes. The Plate possibilities in the field are Pender Harbour, Seawatch, and Top Prospect.

Twinspired should be favored. He lost the Grade 1 Blue Grass on Keeneland’s Polytrack in April by a whisker before finishing 17th in the May 7 Kentucky Derby.

Bobadieu, a front-running winner of the 5 1/2-furlong allowance prep on May 20, will be looking to double up at Assiniboia Downs in Sunday’s six-furlong Free Press.

The $25,000 Free Press, the first stakes race of the meeting for the open 3-and-up division, will go as the eighth race on a special Sunday program that begins at 1:15 p.m.

Bobadieu, an 8-year-old horse trained by Jared Brown, had raced at Canterbury Park and Remington Park last year and had a Turf Paradise outing under his belt when he scored in his Winnipeg debut on May 20.

Shakenwithanolive and Alywyn will renew acquaintances in Sunday’s $50,000 Wild Rose Handicap at Northlands Park. The six-furlong sprint for fillies and mares attracted six horses, including Classic Alley Kat, who ships in from Hastings off of two dominating performances in the Brighouse Belles and Senate Appointee.

Shakenwithanolive and Alywyn met four times at Northlands in 2010, with each winning twice. Shakenwithanolive edged Alywyn in the John Patrick and Madamoiselle before tailing off in the City of Edmonton and Duchess of York, which were both won by Alywyn.