SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – When Boys At Tosconova came into the stretch six lengths clear of his rivals in a July 2 maiden race at Belmont Park, trainer Richard Dutrow Jr. had a flashback.

“It was like when we watched Big Brown run for the first time for us,” said Dutrow, referring to the horse that won the Kentucky Derby and Preakness for him in 2008. “We were scared to death to run him that day, but when he turned for home our whole lives changed.”

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. – The Pucker Up Stakes for 3-year-old turf fillies has found a nice niche in the 3-year-old filly turf division, producing the winner of the Grade 1 Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup at Keeneland three times since 2004. The Grade 3 Pucker Up, however, fell victim to early-summer Arlington stakes cuts, its purse reduced from $200,000 to $100,000.

Mike Farrell

OCEANPORT, N.J. – Sometimes it takes a while for a claim to pan out.

Richard Malouf and Eddie Broome won a 12-way shake to get Party to Party for $10,000 in April 2005 at Gulfstream Park. The mare never raced again, but the claim can’t be called a bust now that she is making her mark as a broodmare.

Partyallnightlong, her very quick son, makes his stakes debut Monday at Monmouth Park in the $100,000 Gilded Time Stakes for 3-year-old turf sprinters.

DEL MAR, Calif. – Gotta Have Her is a millionaire, a Grade 2 winner this year, and the defending champion of Monday’s $150,000 Palomar Handicap at Del Mar.

Lilly Fa Pootz won her first stakes here in July, finished in front of Gotta Have Her in the Grade 2 John Mabee Stakes on Aug. 15 and is in the best form of her career.

One of the two mares is likely to win the Grade 2 Palomar Handicap, which is run over 1 1/16 miles on turf and has drawn five fillies and mares.

Smitty’s Moonshine is a more accomplished horse on dirt at this point in his career, but there are reasons to believe he is better on turf and that theory will get tested Monday in the $150,000 A.L. “Red” Erwin at Louisiana Downs.

The one-mile turf race for 3-year-olds bred in Louisiana heads a card of four statebred stakes worth $400,000.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – In addition to Society’s Chairman in the Halton and Sand Cove in the Elgin, favorites could rule the roost in the other four $125,000 yearling sales stakes on Monday’s program.

Drunken Love, who is coming into the Kenora off a 6 1/2-length victory in Fort Erie’s Daryl Wells Sr. Memorial over five furlongs of dirt, looms the one to beat in the six-furlong Kenora for 3-year-olds and upward.

Mountaineer’s farewell to summer has the look of a summer rerun. Several of the same horses who played prominent roles in turf stakes on last month’s West Virginia Derby undercard will be back in action for the $75,000 turf stakes co-features that kick off Monday’s Labor Day card.

The mile-and-70-yard Labor Day, which goes as race 1, pits three of the five top runners from the West Virginia Speaker’s Cup, including winner Vanquisher and runner-up Timeless Fashion, who were separated by a half-length.

Tenth Power and The Nutz meet for the fourth time this summer when they headline a field of seven in the Labor Day Stakes at Columbus on Monday afternoon.
Tenth Power has won the last two meetings with The Nutz, scoring by three-quarters of a length in the $50,000 Omaha Stakes at Horsemen’s Park on July 25 and most recently winning by 1 3/4 lengths in an allowance prep for this race here on Aug. 21. Tenth Power has won eight races this year and is tied for second nationally with three other horses for the most wins this year.

VANCOUVER, British Columbia – Is a maiden making just the fourth start of his career good enough to propel himself to the top of the 3-year-old class at Hastings with one race remaining before the Grade 3, $150,000 British Columbia Derby Sept. 26? We’ll find out when Ain runs in the $50,000 Richmond Derby Trial Monday.

The 1 1/16-mile feature drew 10 horses and heads a strong nine-race card that includes the $50,000 Hong Kong Jockey Club for 3-year-old fillies and the PNE President’s Speed Handicap, featuring Burj Dubai.

High-profile trainers Todd Pletcher and Linda Rice will try to repeat past success when they ship in lightly raced 2-year-olds for a pair of six-furlong stakes for New York-breds on Monday’s holiday card at Finger Lakes.

Pletcher, who won last year’s Aspirant for 2-year-old colts and geldings with 8-5 favorite Ibboyee and the 1997 running with Mellow Roll, has a prime contender in Monday’s $128,000 Aspirant (race 8) with debut winner Hysterical Cat.