SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Disruptor, runner-up to T O Elvis in the Grade 1 Churchill Downs Stakes on May 2, will miss the Grade 1 Metropolitan Handicap due to an illness, trainer Todd Pletcher confirmed on Friday.

“He got sick after his race at Churchill. We ended up missing a week of training, he’s just not ready in time,” Pletcher said.

Disruptor, who before the Churchill Downs won the Grade 3 Challenger Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs, has resumed galloping. Pletcher isn’t sure exactly where Disruptor would run next.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Trainer Miguel Clement had originally planned on putting Deterministic on the Oklahoma turf course Friday for his final work in preparation for a defense of his title a week from Saturday in the Grade 1 Manhattan. But after taking a little run over the turf himself on Thursday evening, Clement opted to call an audible, instead breezing his Eclipse Award finalist on the Oklahoma dirt, going five furlongs in a very impressive 1:01.92 per Daily Racing Form.

Vive Veuve, who rallied up the rail to win the off-the-turf $200,000 Ouija Board Distaff in her dirt debut Monday at Lone Star Park, has returned home to Churchill Downs, according to her trainer, Joe Sharp.

Sharp said she will be considered for the $275,000 Anchorage, a 1 1/8 miles turf race for fillies and mares on June 27 at Churchill.

Vive Veuve was up for a half-length win in the Ouija Board and earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 79 while making her first start since November.

Desert Gate won his second consecutive stakes in the $300,000 Texas Derby on Monday at Lone Star Park. After his strong effort, all options are on the table going forward, trainer Bob Baffert said Thursday.

“If the Preakness was in two weeks, I’d be there,” Baffert quipped. “He’s ready for the Preakness now!”

Desert Gate shipped in from Baffert’s Southern California base and won the Texas Derby by 6 1/4 lengths one start after capturing the Hot Springs Stakes at a mile at Oaklawn Park. He earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 92 in the 1 1/16-mile Texas Derby.

GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas – Thermal turned up the heat Monday at Lone Star Park, earning a career-high Beyer Speed Figure of 106 for her win in the $100,000 Memorial Day Sprint. The Beyer is tied for the third-highest by a filly or mare on dirt this year in North America.

Trainer John Sadler said Thermal has stepped up her game since she began racing on dirt. She won the Memorial Day Sprint by 8 1/4 lengths, covering six furlongs in 1:08.56 on a track that had just been upgraded from good to fast.

Fort Erie’s 129th season, a 34-day meet that is significantly shorter than the border track’s traditional 40-day stand, kicks off on Sunday. Racing runs through Oct. 20 on a mostly Monday/Tuesday schedule beginning in late June, following a series of Sunday cards.

James Culic, Fort Erie’s manager of marketing and corporate communications, said the plan is to run the same number of races as in the past while strategically making the best of a declining horse population.