SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Even as greatness was unfolding in front of her, Barbara Banke said she truly didn’t grasp it.
Banke was a relative newcomer to Thoroughbred racing in 2007 and 2008 when she and her husband, Jess Jackson, campaigned Curlin, the strapping chestnut son of Smart Strike who would win 11 of 16 starts including 10 stakes and became the only North American-based horse to top $10 million in earnings.

DEL MAR, Calif. – Explicable, who makes her first career start Friday in race 5, should have a major say in the outcome, according to her trainer, Gary Mandella.

“She’s trained well, and she’s trained sharp,” Mandella said. “She trains like a sharp, fast filly. She’s built like a sprinter.”

Explicable, a daughter of Pioneerof the Nile, was purchased as a yearling in September 2012 for $120,000. Mandella said minor problems prevented her from getting to the races until now.

DEL MAR, Calif. – Ankeny Hill has run well on both turf and synthetic surfaces, and that gives trainer Mark Glatt two tempting options following his sharp allowance victory Saturday.

Ankeny Hill was scheduled to run five furlongs on turf, but the race was moved to the main track because of the temporary suspension of turf racing last weekend. It was no problem for Ankeny Hill, who got a career-best Beyer Speed Figure of 96, earning an opportunity for a stakes start next time out.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Ride On Curlin and General a Rod, who along with Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner California Chrome were the only horses to run in the entire Triple Crown this year, are both being freshened at Louisville-area farms, their trainers said Wednesday.

The connections of both horses had considered running in some of the major summer stakes with their colts, but after each worked a single time in early July following the Belmont, they chose to give their runners rest instead.

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. – Up With the Birds, among the best horses based in Canada, is a likely runner in the Arlington Million, trainer Malcolm Pierce confirmed Tuesday.

“That’s the direction we’re leaning with him,” said Pierce. “He’ll have one more breeze this Friday, and then we’ll look at pre-entering him. The horse ran a pretty strong race here in his last start. We thought, ‘Let’s give him a try.’ ”

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. – The European contingent for the Aug. 16 Arlington Million Day races, headed by 2013 Breeders’ Cup Turf winner Magician, seems fairly well set now, and here’s the expected roster of runners as of Tuesday morning, according to the International Racing Bureau:

◗ Million: Magician, Trading Leather, Smoking Sun, Side Glance

◗ Beverly D.: Palace, Just the Judge, Euro Charline, Sparkling Beam

◗ Secretariat: Adelaide, Belisarius

◗ American St. Leger: Dandino, Moment In Time, Havana Beat, Eye of the Storm

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. – A. P.’s Glory made it two wins without a loss when she captured the $100,000 Mountaineer Juvenile Fillies by 1 1/2 lengths last weekend, but trainer Jim DiVito and owner-breeder Curtis Green have no particular next race picked out yet for the 2-year-old Mineshaft filly.

“I think she’s going to be better as she goes on,” DiVito said. “It’s still kind of up in the air where we’ll run.”

Alamo Heights is one of at least three horses from the Super Derby Prelude Stakes last Saturday at Louisiana Downs to target next month’s Grade 2, $400,000 Super Derby. Alamo Heights earned a fees-paid berth into the Sept. 6 race for his 1 1/4-length win over favored Ide Be Cool, another Super Derby candidate, along with the fourth-place finisher Gold Appointment.

The Super Derby, at 1 1/8 miles on the main track, is the richest race at Louisiana Downs, and it anchors a program of seven stakes worth $825,000.

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. – Somali Lemonade, an 11-1 upset winner of the Grade 1 Diana Stakes on July 19 at Saratoga, will make her next start in the Grade 1 Beverly D. Stakes here on Aug. 16, trainer Michael Matz said Tuesday.

“I think we’re going to give it a whirl,” said Matz, who had been monitoring Somali Lemonade’s condition coming out of the Diana before committing her to the Beverly D.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Junior Alvarado had just ridden one of the fastest horses he’d ever been on to an allowance victory and had one more mount at Aqueduct before he was going to enjoy the Christmas holiday with his family.

Alvarado was in the gate aboard Miss Narcissist for the East View Stakes last Dec. 22 when that filly flipped in the gate, pinning Alvarado’s left ankle against metal. The result was a broken ankle and broken momentum.