Michael McCarthy, best known for Breeders’ Cup and Pegasus World Cup victories with City of Light, had seen his stable grow to the extent that he was looking for a top assistant, and he landed one of the most-respected horsemen on the backstretch when Sean McCarthy – no relation – decided to join forces with the beginning of the Del Mar meeting.

Sean McCarthy – whose biggest win came with Majestic Harbor in the Grade 1 Gold Cup at Santa Anita in 2014 – sent out his final starter, his 21st of the year, last Friday at Los Alamitos.

DEL MAR, Calif. – It has taken longer than first expected for Omaha Beach to get back into serious training, but his first work since being scratched days before the Kentucky Derby is expected in about a week, trainer Richard Mandella said.

“I’d have liked to be about a month ahead, but he’s coming good,” Mandella said as Omaha Beach galloped here at Del Mar earlier this week.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Following his triumph in the Grade 3 Forbidden Apple Stakes at Saratoga on Friday, Mr Havercamp was back in his stall at Woodbine on Saturday morning, but a return trip to Saratoga later in the meet could be in the cards.

Melissa Cohen said there isn’t a day that goes by that she doesn’t think of her former boss, Rick Violette Jr.

“He’s always on my mind,” Cohen said. “What would Rick think, or what would Rick do?”

Cohen worked for Violette for 15 years as an assistant trainer and pretty much ran the shed row during the times Violette got sick or had to focus his attention on other matters as the long-time president of the New York Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association.

Trainer Kevin Patterson won his 16th straight race Sunday night when he sent out Call Me Cowboy in the eighth race at Mountaineer Park under jockey Luis Quinones. Call Me Cowboy won the $5,000 claiming race by a length as the 1-5 favorite.

Patterson’s win streak dates to May 31. Call Me Cowboy has won twice for Patterson during that time period.

Call Me Cowboy was one of three winners for Quinones on Sunday night. He is the leading rider at Mountaineer.

Trainer Andrew Lerner won at Del Mar for the first time in the summer of 2017. The stable had six horses and a Spartan office on the backstretch. An overturned bucket doubled as a chair.

Furnishings and the number of runners in the stable have improved significantly in the last two years.

When the Del Mar summer meeting begins Wednesday, the 30-year-old Lerner will have 40 horses in his care.

“It really is crazy,” Lerner reflected last weekend.

The 36-day Del Mar summer meeting that starts Wednesday may be among the most important in the track’s history.

Amidst an opening day noted for its large and festive crowds and general revelry, Del Mar opens less than a month after the conclusion of a six-month Santa Anita meeting plagued by a series of equine fatalities that led to the cancellation of three weeks of racing in March, drew national news, and led to widespread concern over horse safety.

CYPRESS, Calif. – Handle for the nine-day Los Alamitos summer meeting compared favorably to a similar nine-day stretch from last year’s longer meeting, track vice-president Jack Liebau said Sunday.

Los Alamitos held nine days of racing from June 29 through Sunday, and Liebau said handle on those days improved by approximately 2 percent compared to similar days at the 2018 summer meeting. There were 11 complete days of racing at the 2018 meeting and one day with two races when the remainder of the program was canceled because of excessive heat.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Despite a slow opening day – due to a combination of an early opening and inclement weather – all-sources handle for the first four days of the 2019 Saratoga meet is up 2.5 percent compared to the first four days of the 2018 meeting. However, ontrack handle is down 17.9 percent compared to the first four days last year.

CYPRESS, Calif. – From the confusion and anguish of the Kentucky Derby aftermath on May 4, there was one emotion evident on the faces of owners Gary and Mary West after Game Winner’s win in the Grade 3 Los Alamitos Derby on Saturday.

Satisfaction.

Game Winner, the champion 2-year-old male of 2018, won the $150,000 Los Alamitos Derby in a performance that served as a trial for the Grade 1 Travers Stakes at Saratoga on Aug. 24.

“He seems to be back to his old self again,” Gary West said in the winner’s circle. “I think this will be a great prep race for him.”