LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Desert Ride, who used an allowance victory on the Keeneland turf in April as a springboard to victory earlier this month in the Woodbine Oaks, had her final pre-race breeze for the Queen’s Plate when going five furlongs in 1:02.60 early Friday at Churchill.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Rudy Brisset is taking the good with the bad. The 35-year-old trainer was nearly giddy with the way Quip performed last week when second in the Stephen Foster at Churchill Downs, but he’s also saddened by the recent loss of one of his stable stars, My Majestic Rose.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – With the 160th running of the $1 million Queen’s Plate set for next Saturday, the field for the first jewel of the Canadian Triple Crown is taking shape. A field of 12 Canadian-bred 3-year-olds appears likely for the 1 1/4-mile journey over Woodbine’s Tapeta, including a pair of maidens trained by Michael De Paulo – Rising Star and Moon Swings.

Both maidens ran in the Plate Trial on June 8, with Rising Star coming from well off the pace to be third and Moon Swings racing in midpack early and finishing fourth.

ARCADIA, Calif. – The California Horse Racing Board voted unanimously to withdraw from the Association of Racing Commissioners International organization on Thursday, stating that recently implemented rules in California reflect a “dramatic” change between the state’s racing policies and that of other jurisdictions.

In recent months, California has enacted stringent medication and inspection rules for horses entered to train or race following a series of equine fatalities at Santa Anita since late December.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – A couple of veteran sprinters who have spent the majority of their careers in the claiming ranks, Royal Squeeze and Fast Pass, could realize the dream of becoming a graded stakes winner when they meet in the Grade 3, $250,000 Smile Sprint, the co-feature along with the Grade 2 Princess Rooney on the Summit of Speed card here June 29.

ELMONT, N.Y. – Sadler’s Joy, winner of the Grade 1 Sword Dancer in 2017, has twice worked three furlongs this month at Belmont Park and is targeting a return to the races in the Grade 2, $250,000 Bowling Green Stakes at Saratoga on July 27, trainer Tom Albertrani said Thursday.

Sadler’s Joy has not started since he finished third behind Enable in the Breeders’ Cup Turf at Churchill Downs last November. Albertrani said it was by design that Sadler’s Joy did not run at Gulfstream Park during the winter. He won graded stakes at Gulfstream in both 2017 and 2018.

ELMONT, N.Y. – Backyard Heaven, who at one point in the spring of 2018 was regarded as one of the top older male dirt horses in training, has been breezing steadily for a return to the races, possibly this summer at Saratoga.

Backyard Heaven had his seventh work of the year on Tuesday, breezing five furlongs in 1:02.64 over the Oklahoma training track at Saratoga. Asked if he could possibly make the State Dinner Stakes at Belmont on July 7, Brown said: “I don’t think he’s ready. He’s not there yet.”

ELMONT, N.Y. – My Sister Nat, a half-sister to the 2018 female turf champion Sistercharlie and recent French Derby winner Sottsass, will make her seasonal and U.S. debut Saturday in a second-level allowance race that goes as race 3 on the 10-race program.

Global Campaign, who would have been among the favorites in Saturday’s Grade 3 Ohio Derby, will be scratched due to a nagging foot problem, Thistledown director of racing Patrick Ellsworth confirmed Wednesday.

Global Campaign has been troubled by foot issues since grabbing a quarter during the Fountain of Youth Stakes, which led to a quarter crack that derailed his spring campaign. He returned to win the Peter Pan Stakes in May, defeating subsequent Belmont Stakes winner Sir Winston, but missed days of training after shedding a frog afterward.

ARCADIA, Calif. – Vasilika, the leading turf female in Southern California this year, is expected to make her next start in the Grade 2 Yellow Ribbon Handicap at 1 1/16 miles on turf at Del Mar on Aug. 3.

Trainer Jerry Hollendorfer considered sending Vasilika to the Grade 1 Beverly D. Stakes at Arlington Park on Aug. 10, but has elected to keep the 5-year-old mare in California with the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf at Santa Anita on Nov. 2 as a long-term goal.

“We’re doing good here,” Hollendorfer said of Vasilika’s success in California.