ELMONT, N.Y. – Code of Honor has been doing everything he can to convince trainer Shug McGaughey that he’ll be ready to run in the Grade 1 Metropolitan Handicap on July 4. After Code of Honor put in a sharp five-furlong workout Wednesday morning at Belmont Park, McGaughey said he was convinced.

Blitzkrieg, who won his second Grade 3 race in Sunday’s American Stakes at Santa Anita, could have his next start in the Grade 2 Del Mar Mile on turf Aug. 23.

Blitzkrieg led throughout the $102,000 American Stakes at a mile on turf, winning by a length at 7-1 in his seventh start of the year. A 5-year-old gelding, Blitzkrieg was winless in four starts in Dubai from late January to early March.

Trainer Doug O’Neill said Wednesday that Blitzkrieg could benefit from a gap between starts in coming weeks.

The Los Alamitos summer meeting that begins Friday, and is scheduled for seven days, will have overnight purses similar to the corresponding meeting in 2019, a contrast from Del Mar and Santa Anita, which are offering reduced purses this spring and summer because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Track vice president Jack Liebau said Wednesday that a cash infusion from track owner Ed Allred is the difference.

In the aftermath of the runaway victory by Cafe Pharoah in the Unicorn Stakes last Sunday at Tokyo Racecourse, Churchill Downs officials this week said they had received encouraging feedback from the colt’s connections regarding a potential start in this year’s Kentucky Derby on Sept. 5, adding international intrigue to an already unprecedented Derby.

The dialogue was so positive that Churchill Downs officials made Cafe Pharoah one of the individual betting interests in the Derby future wager being offered this weekend.

Arindel’s Cookie Dough is the most prominent name on the nomination sheet for Saturday’s $60,000 Added Elegance Stakes at Gulfstream Park, but the winner of the Grade 3 Royal Delta earlier this season will not be in the starting gate for the one-mile overnight test for older fillies and mares.

Cookie Dough, who has not started since finishing far back in the Grade 1 Apple Blossom at Oaklawn Park, is still a ways off from her next start, according to Brian Cohen, who oversees the local contingent of the Ocala, Fla.-based stable owned by his father, Alan Cohen.

WHO’S HOT

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Since moving his stable from South Florida to Kentucky, Carlo Vaccarezza took a while to warm up, going winless with his first 14 Churchill starters. But not only did Vaccarezza send out his first winner of the meet when Uncle Gregory scored at a $58.20 mutuel in the seventh race Saturday, but Parkland rallied stoutly to finish second at 68-1 in the final race the same day.

Parkland, by Midnight Lute out of Hay Jude, is a 4-year-old half-brother to Little Mike, a multiple Grade 1 winner who earned more than $3.5 million for Vaccarezza and his wife, Priscilla.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Bret Calhoun harbors a certain empathy for absent racing fans that will be amplified this weekend amid the sounds of silence at Churchill Downs.

“These are the races they come out to see,” said Calhoun, referring to Saturday showdowns in the Stephen Foster and Fleur de Lis. “It’s a shame we won’t have the fans here to enjoy them.”

Presque Isle Downs in Erie, Pa., is planning to reopen for live racing on July 27, the head of the state’s horsemen’s group said Tuesday.

Stewards at Indiana Grand Racecourse have issued a 30-day suspension to jockey Gabriel Saez for his role in a racing accident in the fourth race on June 17.

Saez was riding Justtequilatalkin in a 2-year-old maiden race when, a furlong or so into the short sprint, his mount, racing on the lead, drifted in and set off a chain reaction that caused three horses and riders to fall.