ELMONT, N.Y. – The much anticipated decision regarding Tiz the Law’s starting status for the Preakness will not be made for at least another several days. It’s a decision, trainer Barclay Tagg and his assistant Robin Smullen agreed, that will basically be made by Tiz the Law himself.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – It looked like a speed-friendly Tapeta surface last Saturday at Woodbine after 8-1 shot Mizzen Beau led all the way in the $250,000 Bison City Stakes. Two races later in the 10th, the $1 million Queen’s Plate, 13-1 shot Mighty Heart broke alertly from post 13 and proceeded to set a lively pace in a 7 1/2-length score under an opportunistic ride from Daisuke Fukumoto in his first Plate mount.

When Anothertwistafate made his entrance to the paddock for the Grade 3 Longacres Mile last Thursday, he did not look like a horse that was making his first start in 481 days and first since he finished 10th in the 2019 Preakness. He was cool, calm, and collected, and his coat could not have looked any healthier.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Tom’s d’Etat was sent through his first breeze since his third-place finish in the Aug. 1 Whitney when going a solo half-mile in 50.80 seconds before dawn Monday at Churchill Downs. Miguel Mena was up.

“All good, very good,” trainer Al Stall Jr. said. “A long journey starts with the first step. The time between the Whitney and getting him back on a regular breeze schedule was strictly by design. I’m extremely happy with how he’s been doing.”

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Art Collector, who missed the Kentucky Derby with a minor foot injury, breezed a half-mile in company in 49 seconds on Saturday at the Skylight training center. Jockey Brian Hernandez Jr. was aboard the colt, whose four 2020 starts all have resulted in open-lengths victories.

“He was his normal self, well within himself,” Hernandez said. “An easy half, nice and smooth.”

FRANKLIN, Ky. – Mark Casse had never been to Kentucky Downs for a live day of racing while the Queen’s Plate was being run at Woodbine, his longtime stomping grounds.

Of course, never had anybody else, given that the Queen’s Plate is usually run in early summer and Kentucky Downs always runs in September. This is the year of the coronavirus, and altered racing schedules often lead horsemen such as Casse to wonder what month it is and why they are where they are.

ELMONT, N.Y. - More than 500 horses made the work tabs over the main, training, and turf courses in just over a 24-hour period this weekend at Belmont Park. Among the most prominent was the star-studded pairing of Code of Honor and Performer, who breezed four furlongs in company over the main track Sunday morning.

LEXINGTON, Ky. – The two-day Breeders’ Cup event scheduled for Nov. 6-7 at Keeneland Racecourse in Lexington, Ky., will be held spectator-free this year due to the coronavirus pandemic, the organization announced on Saturday night, and purse increases that were slated to go into effect this year will no longer be implemented.

A wildfire in the mountains above Santa Anita in Arcadia, Calif. has significantly curtailed visibility and affected training at the racetrack in recent days.

The fire, which began on Sept. 6, is burning in mountains to the northeast of the racetrack and covered more than 23,800 acres by early Friday, according to fire officials. The smoke was so severe that sunlight was noticeably reduced in Southern California, though not as much as in Northern California.

Golden Gate Fields in Northern California has canceled Friday’s live race card due to nearby wildfires that continue to blanket the area in dense smoke, according to the track’s parent company.

Golden Gate was scheduled to hold an eight-race card on Friday, beginning at 4:15 p.m. Eastern time. Strong wildfires in Northern California and in Oregon have led to disruptions across the area.

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