Bob Baffert has won nine Triple Crown races, but the Hall of Fame trainer had little impact on this year’s races, with no runners in the Kentucky Derby and just one in the Preakness Stakes, and his participation in this year’s Belmont Stakes on June 8 is far from assured, with Baffert on Wednesday saying he was still contemplating whether to run Code West, who worked with stablemate Power Broker on Wednesday morning at Churchill Downs.

GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas – Master Rick has developed into an older horse of note over the past several months, and on Wednesday his connections were still determining the next move to be made with the horse, who knocked out his third straight win in Monday’s Grade 3, $300,000 Lone Star Park Handicap.

“We’ve made no decision whatsoever,” said Steve Asmussen, who trains Master Rick for Richard L. Davis.

ELMONT, N.Y. – Before Cross Traffic in Monday’s Metropolitan Handicap, the toughest beat of the year suffered on this circuit belonged to Saturday’s Charm, who lost a similarly excruciating photo to Comma to the Top in the Grade 3 Tom Fool Handicap at Aqueduct.

While Comma to the Top returned to California to win two of three stakes tries – including last weekend’s Los Angeles Handicap at Betfair Hollywood Park – Saturday’s Charm missed time because of a foot issue that forced him to scratch out of the Grade 1 Carter on April 6.

The classy 8-year-old mare Salsa Express figures to be a strong favorite when she runs in a $25,000 optional claimer for fillies and mares that serves as Friday’s feature at Northlands Park. The six-furlong sprint drew 10 horses, and with her good tactical speed, Salsa Express should get a ground-saving trip after breaking from post 1.

It is hard not to like a horse such as Salsa Express, who has been a gem of consistency since she began her career with a second-place finish in a maiden special weight race at Boise in 2008.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. – Door’s Open surprised trainer Vladimir Cerin when he won his first two starts – a $50,000 claiming race for maidens at Santa Anita on March 14 and a starter allowance there April 20.

“He never appeared he’d do it until we asked him, and then he did it,” Cerin said.

Door’s Open’s third start comes in a $54,000 allowance race over six furlongs on turf at Betfair Hollywood Park on Friday. Owned by co-breeder Tom Capehart, Door’s Open will make his first start on turf.

“He deserves a bit of a test,” Cerin said.

Although the 2013 Northern California su mmer fair racing schedule has a familiar look, a major change has taken place behind the scenes.

The Sonoma County Fair in Santa Rosa has withdrawn from the California Authority of Racing Fairs umbrella and will run as a separate entity.

Seven have been entered in Saturday’s $100,000 Campanile Stakes for 3-year-old California-bred fillies going a mile on turf.

The field includes three stakes winners: Unusual Way, who won the Wine Country Debutante at Santa Rosa last summer as well as the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Stakes Prevue; Qiaona, winner of the California Breeders’ Championship; and Warren’s Veneda, who graduated in the Alphabet Kiss on April 27 at Hollywood Park.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Mickey Walls, winner of an Eclipse Award and three Sovereign Awards, is this year’s recipient of the Avelino Gomez Memorial Award.

The award, presented annually on Woodbine Oaks Day, goes to a jockey who is Canadian-born, Canadian-raised, or has been a regular rider in the country for more than five years and has made significant contributions to the sport.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Up With the Birds remains on a straight course for the July 7 Queen’s Plate after winning the $163,681 Marine Stakes in impressive fashion here last Sunday.

“He did everything right, had a good trip, and seems to have come out of the race in good order,” said Malcolm Pierce, who trains the homebred for Sam-Son Farm. “We’re where we want to be with him right now. We’ll just have to hope he stays healthy for six weeks.”

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Fans of the popular CBS television series “NCIS” now have a racehorse they can enjoy watching, too.

Agent Di Nozzo, a 4-year-old gelding, has won four of his last six starts and earned a career-high 101 Beyer Speed Figure in his most recent outing, a runner-up effort in an allowance race during Kentucky Derby Week at Churchill Downs.