ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. – Four racing weeks into Arlington’s 2013 race meet, Chris Block is the leading trainer – by third-place finishes. One-quarter of Block’s 32 starters through May 29 have checked in third, while three horses have won and four came home second. But the net Block has cast over the $100,000 Purple Violet Stakes here Saturday should be wide enough to end the frustration.

ELMONT, N.Y. – It wasn’t easy for trainer Bruce Brown to put Mischief Maker away after the filly recorded two impressive victories in a month’s time during the winter.

But after Mischief Maker went virtually nonstop for nine months, Brown felt giving that daughter of Cape Town a break would give her the best chance at success in the second half of the year. Mischief Maker returns Saturday in the $100,000 Dancing Renee Stakes going seven furlongs at Belmont Park.

The biggest fields among Saturday’s seven New York-bred stakes are the pair of $125,000, one-mile races scheduled for the Widener turf: the Mount Vernon for fillies and mares, which drew 12 meant for grass, and the Kingston, which attracted nine older males including Lubash and Street Game, the second and third finishers from last year’s renewal.

ELMONT, N.Y. – After having great success the last two decades with a fall program dedicated to New York-breds at Belmont Park, the New York Racing Association decided to add a second such card to the calendar.

Saturday’s New York Showcase Day program at Belmont features 10 races restricted to New York-breds, including seven stakes worth $850,000. While the $150,000 Commentator Handicap at 1 1/16 miles is the richest race on the program, it is the $100,000 Affirmed Success at 6 1/2 furlongs that is the most intriguing.

AUBURN, Wash. – Six older horses targeting stakes later in the meeting will hook up Saturday in the featured eighth race at Emerald Downs, a $22,575 allowance at six furlongs.

Makors Finale, Emerald’s leading 3-year-old in 2012, is likely to start as the favorite in an evenly matched field that also includes the multiple stakes winner Jebrica. First post for the nine-race card is 2 p.m. Pacific.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Lady of Shamrock, a two-time Grade 1 winner in 2012 who was third in the Grade 1 Gamely Stakes for turf females on Monday, is likely to make her next start outside of California.

Sadler said that Lady of Shamrock will be considered for races beyond the Gamely distance of 1 1/8 miles on turf, with the $200,000 New York Handicap over 1 1/4 miles on turf at Belmont Park on June 29 and the $200,000 Modesty Handicap over 1 3/16 miles on turf at Arlington Park on July 13 as possibilities.

ELMONT, N.Y. – After hitting the refresh button twice with Weekend Hideaway since the end of his 2-year-old campaign, trainer Phil Serpe believes he’s got his multiple stakes winner back at his best. Weekend Hideaway will face New York-breds for the first time this season when he returns in Saturday’s $125,000 Mike Lee Stakes at Belmont Park.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. – At least on Saturday, Clubhouse Ride is free of the presence of Game On Dude in the $150,000 Californian Stakes at Betfair Hollywood Park.

Macho Macho’s 4-year-old campaign began promisingly enough, with a solid fourth behind three good horses – Graydar, Mark Valeski, and Bourbon Courage – in the New Orleans Handicap. That comeback race might have been a means to an end, the end being the Alysheba Stakes on Kentucky Oaks Day at Churchill. But the end of Macho Macho’s chances in the Alysheba came early, when he was squeezed to the back of the field going into the first turn. Runner-up Cyber Secret was disqualified because of the incident, but little good that did Macho Macho, who checked in sixth.

The Pennsylvania Governor’s Cup, a turf sprint, used to be the biggest race of the season at Penn National. Now, it’s only a supporting undercard feature for the $500,000 Penn Mile, a new turf race for 3-year-olds that apparently filled an empty niche on the East Coast stakes calendar, attracting the four best sophomore grass horses in New York.