Churchill Downs Inc. had net income of $108.3 million in the second quarter this year, and the company will spend more than $200 million in the next two years on renovations at Churchill Downs racetrack in Louisville and at a casino south of the track, the company announced Wednesday.

Training on the new dirt track installed at Laurel Park in Maryland will begin on Aug. 10, track officials said during a conference call on Wednesday with horsemen, two days after trainers and their horses are let back on the grounds.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Colonel Liam, a winner of two Grade 1 turf stakes this year, will be getting a break and will most likely miss the major fall races in the turf division, trainer Todd Pletcher said Wednesday.

Pletcher had been pointing Colonel Liam to Saturday’s Grade 2, $250,000 Bowling Green Stakes at Saratoga. But Pletcher said he wasn’t pleased with how the 4-year-old colt galloped Tuesday morning and planned to send the horse to Kentucky for an evaluation.

Jess Savin Candy is the nation’s most accomplished 2-year-old racehorse this year with wins in the $1 million Ruidoso Futurity on June 12 and last Sunday’s $1 million Rainbow Futurity at Ruidoso Downs. A gelding, Jess Savin Candy has won 3 of 4 starts and earned $846,400 for owners Jim Streelman and Bill Dale, who race as Dutch Masters III.

Now comes the hard part – a time trial for the All American Futurity at 440 yards on Aug. 20 or 21. Jess Savin Candy must have one of the five fastest qualifying times on his trial day to earn a berth in the $3 million final on Sept. 6.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Firenze Fire came up on the short end of a thrilling seven-furlong battle with Mind Control by a head in the Grade 2 John Nerud Stakes at Belmont on July 4.

While Mind Control will wait for the Grade 1 Forego on Aug. 28, Firenze Fire will run back in a salty renewal of Saturday’s Grade 1, $350,000 Alfred G. Vanderbilt Handicap at Saratoga.

The Vanderbilt, run at six furlongs, drew a nine-horse field including reigning sprint champion Whitmore and Grade 1 winner Mischevious Alex.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Cross Border, who is 5 for 6 over Saratoga’s turf course, will be back on his favorite surface for Saturday’s Grade 2, $250,000 Bowling Green Stakes.

Cross Border actually finished second in last year’s Bowling Green, but was elevated to first after the stewards ruled Sadler’s Joy had caused interference in the stretch. Cross Border’s Saratoga win streak came to an end in last year’s Sword Dancer when he finished second to Channel Maker, who is back in this field.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – The goals are bigger the second half of the year for Essential Quality than Saturday’s Grade 2, $600,000 Jim Dandy Stakes, but trainer Brad Cox believes his Belmont Stakes winner is ready to pick up where he left off eight weeks ago.

Essential Quality, who outlasted Hot Rod Charlie in a stirring stretch duel to win the Belmont on June 5, was one of six 3-year-olds entered Wednesday for Saturday’s Jim Dandy, the local stepping-stone at Saratoga to the Grade 1, $1.25 million Travers on Aug. 28.

John Shear, a paddock captain who began working at Santa Anita in 1961, has retired. Shear is 100.

A native of England, Shear was a fixture at Santa Anita, where he worked to ensure the safety of horses as they entered the paddock. Shear made national news in 2011 when he sustained injuries by distracting a loose horse who was rapidly approaching a crowd that included a small child.

Stilleto Boy, purchased for $420,000 earlier this month following a win in the $250,000 Iowa Derby at Prairie Meadows, could have his California debut in the Grade 3 Shared Belief Stakes on Aug. 29 at Del Mar.

Stilleto Boy was bought by Steve Moger at the Fasig-Tipton July horses of racing age sale on July 12 and sent to trainer Ed Moger, his brother, later that week. Last Sunday, Stilleto Boy worked a half-mile in 51.20 seconds at Del Mar, which Ed Moger described as “nice and comfortable.”

Trainer Mark Glatt could have as many as three runners in Saturday’s Grade 1 Bing Crosby Stakes at Del Mar. Glatt said Wednesday that he plans to start the Grade 1 winners Collusion Illusion and Dr. Schivel and the multiple stakes winner Law Abidin Citizen in the $300,000 Crosby Stakes at six furlongs.