It’s been a little more than two years since Brad Cox notched the first Grade 1 of his training career when Monomoy Girl won the 2018 Ashland at Keeneland. Cox sure wouldn’t mind making the 2020 Ashland his lucky 13th Grade 1 victory when he gives John Velazquez a leg up aboard Bonny South in the 83rd running Saturday.

“She’s been at Keeneland for quite a while now, training extremely well,” said Cox, referring to 10 breezes over the local surface since late April, the most recent being a five-furlong drill Saturday in 1:00.40.

Shipping in to run at Keeneland used to be a seasonal thing for Chad Brown. Today, it’s mostly just a matter of vanning horses east on Interstate 64 now that Brown has set up shop just down the road at Churchill Downs.

“We’ll be set up permanently in Kentucky from now on, not counting the winter,” Brown said early this week from his New York base. “We’ll swap horses in and out a little later on this summer, according to what’s happening at Saratoga, but otherwise we’re only looking to expand our presence in Kentucky.”

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Rafael Hernandez rode five winners last Saturday at Woodbine, including a sweep of both stakes. The one who got all the jaw-dropping attention was the Roger Attfield-trained Shirl’s Speight, who romped in his debut, on the grass, by eight lengths while flirting with the seven-furlong course record, to the delight of track announcer Robert Geller.

“Shirl’s Speight in an absolute cakewalk,” Geller exclaimed. “This is really what I’d just consider second gear. How many gears are there? I’d say plenty of them left.”

Los Alamitos on Sunday concluded a two-week summer Thoroughbred meeting with a gain of approximately 25 percent in all-sources handle, according to track vice-president Jack Liebau.

Liebau said the track compared comparable days from the 2019 summer meeting, which had nine days of racing over three weeks. This year’s meeting had seven days in two weeks.

While Kenny McPeek mulls which race is next for his leading 3-year-old filly Swiss Skydiver, the 57-year-old trainer is reveling in the flashy debuts turned in last weekend by Hard Strike and Crazy Beautiful. Both 2-year-olds were easy winners in one-mile maiden races over the Ellis Park turf course.

“Very, very encouraging,” McPeek said.

Meanwhile, McPeek was promising a last-minute decision Wednesday morning on whether Swiss Skydiver will be entered in the Blue Grass or Ashland, both to be run Saturday.

The names of about a dozen 3-year-olds are expected to be in the entry box at Keeneland on Wednesday, when entries are drawn for the Blue Grass Stakes, including five members of the current Top 20 in Daily Racing Form’s weekly Derby Watch.

Art Collector, Basin, Enforceable, Mr. Big News, and Shivaree all are expected for the Grade 2, $600,000 Blue Grass, which will be run Saturday for the 94th time. The 1 1/8-mile Blue Grass is a 100-40-20-10 points qualifier toward the Sept. 5 Kentucky Derby.

Trainer Kathy Ritvo and her team will be looking for new lands to conquer with Double Crown after the up-and-coming 3-year-old capped a near-perfect opening half of the season with a three-quarter-length victory over With Verve in Saturday’s seven-furlong Carry Back at Gulfstream.

The Carry Back was the third win in four career starts for Double Crown, who had captured the 6 1/2-furlong Roar in his previous outing and is just a length from being perfect in his brief career – the margin by which he dropped his 3-year-old debut following a very unlucky trip April 26.

A quintet of 3-year-olds, including two stakes winners, are the core of a stable that could give trainer Craig Lewis a career milestone at the Del Mar summer meeting that begins Friday.

Through Sunday, Lewis had 994 career wins, a figure that could need revision as soon as Friday when Margot’s Boy starts in the $100,000 Runhappy Oceanside Stakes for 3-year-olds at a mile on turf.

Lewis will have a 25-horse barn at Del Mar this summer, hoping to improve on a 2019 season in which he had four wins from 24 runners.

“Last summer was nice for us,” Lewis said.

Lone Star Park near Dallas has canceled racing until further notice, it was announced after the first race Sunday.

The Grand Prairie, Texas, track was scheduled to put on a nine-race program. There were four restricted stakes on the card.

Patrons on hand were able to remain in the grandstand for simulcasting. Simulcast operations will continue going forward, on the second floor of the grandstand, according to track officials.

Grade 3, $150,000 Los Alamitos Derby, 1 1/8 miles, Los Alamitos, July 4, 2020
(20 Derby qualifying points for a win, 8 for second, 4 for third, 2 for fourth)

Winner: Uncle Chuck, by Uncle Mo
Trainer: Bob Baffert
Jockey: Luis Saez
Owners: Mike Pegram, Karl Watson, and Paul Weitman
Beyer Speed Figure: 94