LOUISVILLE, Ky. – There’s nothing official about it, but the symbolism is hard to miss. The second half of the 2013 racing season in North America gets under way Saturday night with the Stephen Foster Handicap, a Grade 1 race that relegates the Triple Crown to the rearview mirror while shifting a forward focus onto the Breeders’ Cup.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Horse races can be complicated affairs, whereby handicappers can envision a number of scenarios unfolding that could lead different outcomes.

But Saturday’s night’s Grade 2, $175,000 Fleur de Lis Handicap on the Stephen Foster undercard isn’t one of those races. Champion mare Royal Delta, winner of the past two Breeders’ Cup Ladies’ Classics, towers over four rivals, and anything other than a runaway victory is improbable.

According to trainer Tom Amoss, Free World will have the early lead in the $200,000 Centaur Stakes on Saturday at Indiana Downs.

“There is no other way to put it, we are committed front-runners,” Amoss said. “He will make the lead and we will go from there, hopefully it won’t take too much out of him.”

There is not a lot of speed in the one-mile turf race for 3-year-olds, and Amoss knows who his chief pace rival is likely to be.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – With just three career starts, Abstraction is the least experienced of the 11 3-year-olds who make up a terrific field for the Grade 3, $100,000 Matt Winn Stakes at Churchill Downs.

VANCOUVER, British Columbia – Trainer Craig MacPherson is hoping to have the trifecta in a first-level allowance race for 3-year-olds Saturday at Hastings. MacPherson trains three of the six horses entered in the 1 1/16-mile feature that goes as race 3 on the seven-race card.

MacPherson had a hard time choosing which horse’s chances he likes best among Miss Derek, Bluegrass Pride, and I’m Not Gray, but he seemed to have a slight preference toward Bluegrass Pride.

In the pantheon of Breeders’ Cup Classic winners, Fort Larned hardly has distinguished himself as one of the all-time greats. In fact, if he doesn’t do something pretty soon – and Saturday in the Stephen Foster Handicap at Churchill Downs would be a good time to start – Fort Larned is in danger of becoming known as one of the more forgettable winners of America’s richest race.

Trainer Ian Wilkes is painfully aware Fort Larned has been a disappointment in his two starts this year. Wilkes is intent on setting things right, starting Saturday.

ELMONT, N.Y. – Coming off dominant wins at Charles Town and Pimlico, Dance to Bristol comes to New York for her first attempt at a graded stakes victory in Saturday’s Grade 3, $150,000 Bed o’ Roses Handicap at Belmont Park.

Dance to Bristol will take on just four opponents in the seven-furlong Bed o’ Roses, as one filly that was entered, Munnings Sister, will scratch after running in Thursday’s Smart and Fancy Stakes at Belmont.

When Ellen Jackson bred the graded stakes-winning sprinter Olympio to the mare Jumberca, she expected the foal “to be a fast little guy.”

She was right.

Olympic Jumble was never headed winning his debut last month at Golden Gate Fields, and on Saturday he faces four other 2-year-olds in the $50,000 Lost in the Fog Stakes at the Albany, Calif, track.

Five were entered in the five-furlong race over the Golden Gate Tapeta main track: three who have won and two first-time starters.

[bc_video_id:295465:]Clearly, trainer Mac Robertson doesn’t fear doing things in an unconventional way. Just one week after watching his 5-year-old mare Bryan’s Jewel match her career-best Beyer Speed Figure of 91 by scoring an easy victory in the off-the-turf John Rooney Memorial Stakes, Robertson is giving serious consideration to bringing her right back in Saturday’s Grade 3, $100,000 Obeah Stakes at Delaware Park.

Trainer Greg Tracy has an excellent chance of sweeping the $50,000 Chariot Chaser and the $50,000 Western Canada for 3-year-olds at Northlands Park on Saturday. After all, two of the four horses entered in the six-furlong Chariot Chaser for 3-year-old fillies, Ten Thirty and Tell Me Lies, are trained by Tracy. He also will be leading over Tigger Town and Tony the Tank in the Western Canada, which drew five horses.

Because of the short field in the Chariot Chaser, there will be no place or show wagering. Show wagering is not being offered in the six-furlong Western Canada.