LOUISVILLE, Ky. – To find better horses, Chris Hartman figured he had to go east, young man.

“I wanted to upgrade my stock and see if I couldn’t pick up some more clients,” said Hartman, who was born in Phoenix and raised on the racetracks of Arizona and New Mexico.

Despite steadily increasing crowds at racing’s Triple Crown events and the very real chance that American Pharoah on Saturday will become the sport’s first Triple Crown winner in 37 years, an attendance record will not be set at Belmont Park this weekend. That is guaranteed.

And that is by design.

ELMONT, N.Y. – Once trainer Leah Gyarmati gets Wonder Gal’s season started, everything else should fall into place. But due to an unusual set of circumstances, Wonder Gal comes into the Grade 1 Acorn on Saturday having had only one race since finishing third in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies last fall – and that 2015 race was two months ago.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Hall of Fame jockey Calvin Borel was hoping to fulfill his mounts this week after taking off Sunday with a badly sprained ankle that resulted from a training accident earlier that morning.

Borel was thrown from a filly he was breezing for trainer Buff Bradley when narrowly averting a collision. After initially saying he was okay, Borel eventually went to a nearby hospital for an MRI, which confirmed the sprain.

Borel is named to ride one race Thursday and two Friday.

Mr. Z to bypass Matt Winn

ELMONT, N.Y. – Trainer Jorge Navarro was at Parx on Monday showing pictures of Private Zone to horsemen friends of his who are familiar with the horse.

“They said, ‘Wow, couldn’t believe it,’ ” said Navarro, who is based at Monmouth Park. “Different horse. He looks really good.”

Private Zone had been based at Parx for a couple of months last summer with Alfredo Velazquez. He won the Grade 1 Vosburgh off his training there before moving back to California for the Breeders’ Cup.

ELMONT, N.Y. – Trainer Chad Brown has shuffled his lineup for Saturday’s Grade 1 Manhattan at Belmont Park, subtracting one major player and adding two lower-profile contenders.

Already set to run Big Blue Kitten in the Grade 1 race at 1 1/4 miles on turf, Brown was strongly considering making the Manhattan the North American debut of the Chilean champion Il Campione. However, Brown has decided to hold Il Campione out of the Manhattan and point him to the Grade 3, $300,000 Poker Stakes on June 13. Meanwhile, he has decided to add Hyper and Slumber to the Manhattan mix.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Churchill Downs racing officials said Tuesday they have been informed by trainer Todd Pletcher that Commissioner and Protonico will represent his stable a week from Saturday in the Grade 1 Stephen Foster Handicap.

Meanwhile, trainer Bob Baffert left behind Hoppertunity and Cat Burglar at Churchill Downs as his likely starters for the $500,000 Foster, which will anchor a Downs After Dark card here June 13. Baffert had considered Bayern for the 1 1/8-mile Foster but opted instead for the Met Mile on the Belmont Stakes undercard this Saturday.

Amelia’s Wild Ride, who defeated Ben’s Cat by a nose in the $150,000 Pennsylvania Governor’s Cup at Penn National on Saturday night, will now likely be pointed to the Grade 3, $200,000 Parx Dash on July 11, according to trainer Ramon Preciado.

Preciado pointed out that the 4-year-old Amelia’s Wild Ride had been invited to the $300,000 Jaipur Invitational at Belmont Park this Saturday, but he was not inclined to bring him back that quickly.

Penn Gaming’s strategy of putting on huge stakes days at its Mid-Atlantic tracks of Penn National and Charles Town is paying off, as Penn National set two handle records last Saturday on Penn Mile Night.

The Penn National racetrack side of the racino was very crowded that evening, and the casino side also appeared to be doing brisk business.

Trainer Jose Corrales said Bodhisattva, whom he owns and trains, came out of his last-place finish in the Preakness Stakes none the worse for wear and is being pointed to the $500,000 Ohio Derby, a 1 1/16-mile race at ThistleDown on June 20.

Corrales, a 55-year-old native of Panama, was based at Beulah Park in Ohio in 2010-11 before owner Frank Stronach sent him to Maryland with a string of horses to train.