A first-time starter last Friday at Ellis really turned some heads. Inject, from the first crop of the young sire Frosted, earned an 82 Beyer Speed Figure – the highest of the meet for a 2-year-old – after being ridden out to a six-length victory in a five-furlong dirt race that went in 57.67 seconds. Julien Leparoux was aboard the filly for owner Louie Wright and trainer Stan Hough.

Inject was produced by the 16-year-old mare Appealing Zophie, making her a half-sister to Tapwrit, the 2017 Belmont Stakes winner, and Ride a Comet, the 2018 Del Mar Derby winner.

Rafael Bejarano, the leading rider at the Runhappy meet at Ellis Park in western Kentucky, will be sidelined until Aug. 28 after undergoing surgery in a Louisville, Ky., hospital last week to have a small non-malignant growth removed from his pancreas.

Bejarano, 38, has been resting comfortably in his Louisville home, said his agent, Julio Espinoza. He has not ridden since Aug. 9.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – With some two weeks to go before the 146th Kentucky Derby, fewer than half of the expected starters in the Sept. 5 race are on the grounds at Churchill Downs as travel plans begin to solidify for the balance of the field.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Trainer Robert Tiller reports that three-time Canadian champion sprinter Pink Lloyd emerged from his dramatic victory in Saturday’s Grade 3 Bold Venture none the worse for wear.

Pink Lloyd awaited room in the 6 1/2-furlong event before splitting rivals through a narrow opening in the stretch. He then opened on the field before holding on to prevail by a neck, recording his 22nd stakes win from 30 starts for Entourage Stable.

Officials of Monmouth Park in New Jersey and the state’s Thoroughbred horsemen’s group will petition the state racing commission to allow the track to distribute purse money to horsemen without first receiving the results of post-race drug tests, the track’s top official said Tuesday afternoon.

Kentucky Downs in Franklin, Ky., has canceled plans to allow a limited number of spectators ontrack at its upcoming six-day Runhappy meet in September, citing recent surges in coronavirus positives in Kentucky and Tennessee, the state immediately to its south.

In a press release, the track said that any tickets that have already been sold for the meet will be refunded. The track had initially planned to allow some reserved grandstand seating and to enable patrons to access outdoor areas, but those plans have been scrapped.

Most jockeys who plan to ride during any of the six live race cards scheduled at Kentucky Downs in September will need to test negative for coronavirus twice in the 72 hours leading up to their arrival at the track, Kentucky Downs announced Monday.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Trainer David Donk enjoyed a memorable afternoon Sunday, winning three races on Saratoga’s 10-race card.

Donk won race 4, a $40,000 claimer, with Sky Kitten ($37); race 7, a first-level New York-bred allowance with Winning Factor ($19.60); and the eighth, an allowance race for statebred females with the 8-year-old mare Jc’s Shooting Star ($22.20).

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SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – The expectation that Chad Brown would dominate the trainer standings for the third straight summer at Saratoga has not come to fruition. Yet.

After a two-week lull where he won just three races from 32 in which he had at least one starter, Brown won five races last week. Through the first 24 days of racing, Brown has 18 wins from 86 starters and is tied for the meet lead in wins with Todd Pletcher, himself a 13-time leading trainer at Saratoga.

While the Pacific Classic is the obvious focus of the Saturday card, four other stakes support it, most notably the Del Mar Oaks, the day’s other Grade 1 race.