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DEL MAR, Calif. – Back in March, on a wet Saturday at Lingfield Racecourse south of London, trainer Roger Varian’s thoughts turned to sunny Southern California.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Forte dei Marmi won last year’s Sky Classic Stakes, and will be looking to duplicate that feat in Sunday’s renewal of the 1 1/4-mile turf race for 3-year-olds and upward at Woodbine.

The eight-horse field for the Grade 2, $200,000 Sky Classic also includes Irish Mission, who will be looking to become the first filly to win the race since its current incarnation began in 1997.

Three-year-olds again will be the center of attention at Gulfstream Park’s traditional 2013-2014 meeting, with the Grade 1, $1 million Florida Derby the centerpiece of a record $10.75 million in stakes purses to be distributed. Dubbed the “champions meet,” it opens on Nov. 30, a day after Gulfstream’s inaugural summer meet ends.

Gulfstream, which will celebrate its 75th anniversary during the meet, is scheduled to race year-round.

The Claiming Crown, an eight-race event for horses that have started in claiming races in the past year, will be held at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Fla., through 2015, the organizers of the event announced Thursday in a joint release.

This year’s Claiming Crown, scheduled for Dec. 7 at Gulfstream, will be the second consecutive to be held at the track.

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. – Mull of Killough, one of six European runners in the Arlington Million, had a minor setback Thursday but went back to the track Friday, said trainer Jane Chapple-Hyam.

“He got cast in his stall during the early morning hours [Thursday] and wasn’t quite 100 percent, so we just walked and trotted him around the barn a bit,” said Chapple-Hyam. “He is fine now and ready to go. He went to the training track and walked two laps around [about a mile] and then cantered about 1,000 meters. We should be all set.”

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Up With the Birds endured a heartbreaking loss as the favorite in this year’s $1 million Queen’s Plate. He makes his first start since that prestigious stakes Sunday in the final leg of the Canadian Triple Crown, the $500,000 Breeders’ Stakes, a 12-furlong test that encompasses one lap around Woodbine’s roomy turf course.

The 123rd running of the Breeder’s drew nine other Canadian-bred 3-year-olds, but it can probably be pared down to three other contenders: Pyrite Mountain, Global Express, and River Seven.

FORT ERIE, Ontario – Tony Alderson, 54, has just about done in all when it comes to Thoroughbreds.

Beginning at Woodbine at the age of 15, Alderson hooked up with trainer Bonnie Bolt as a hotwalker and then moved on through the various roles on the backstretch and became a jockey.Today he trains a small stable of runners at Fort Erie.

Alderson still has the look of a jockey, standing a little over the five-foot mark and weighing a few pounds over his former riding weight of 120 pounds.

DEL MAR, Calif. - The pick six at Del Mar on Friday starts with a carryover of $110,122 after no one had all six winners on Thursday. Those who had five winners received a payoff of $1,573.

The bet covers the second through seventh races on a seven-race program that begins at 4 p.m. The Friday programs for the remainder of the meeting will have seven races so the card can be finished before sunset.

[DEL MAR 2013: Complete meet coverage, schedule, race replays]

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SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Earlier this year, Dreaming of Julia and Kauai Katie were considered by many to be the top 3-year-old fillies routing and sprinting, respectively, in the country.

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SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Declan’s Warrior got a little schooling from professors Nick Zito and John Velazquez on Thursday and passed the test with flying colors during an impressive half-mile workout that will serve as his final major prep for the Grade 1 King’s Bishop on Aug. 24.