ELMONT, N.Y. – Brad Cox woke up May 1, 2021, thinking he’d win his first Kentucky Derby later that day.

Never mind Cox was saddling his first Derby starter. This is a man, chronically optimistic, who says, “I will” and “I can” right up until the point it’s proven he actually hasn’t.

Commendable won just two races in his career, a debut victory against maidens at Del Mar in the summer of 1999, and nearly 10 months later, after six straight races in which he finished out of the money, the Belmont Stakes. He was the fourth Belmont winner for trainer D. Wayne Lukas, the third for jockey Pat Day, both already members of the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame by then.

ELMONT, N.Y. – Rombauer will go down as trainer Michael McCarthy’s first winner of a Triple Crown race. As a longtime assistant to trainer Todd Pletcher, however, this trail for McCarthy has not been one less traveled.

McCarthy worked for Pletcher from 2002 to early 2014, when Pletcher was a constant presence in the Kentucky Derby, winning it in 2010 with Super Saver, as well as the Belmont Stakes, which the stable won with Rags to Riches (2007) and Palace Malice (2013).

ARCADIA, Calif. – The 20-cent Rainbow pick six will have a mandatory payout on Sunday at Santa Anita, with the pool expected to surpass $3 million.

The Rainbow portion of the bet has a carryover of $353,385 for Friday, which could grow to close to $500,000 if there is not a single winning ticket on Friday or Saturday. The Rainbow carryover portion of the bet is paid when there is one winning ticket or on a day with a mandatory payout.

ARCADIA, Calif. – Maxim Rate recorded a career-defining win in the Grade 1 Gamely Stakes for fillies and mares at 1 1/8 miles on turf at Santa Anita on Monday, her first win in a race at that level in her fifth appearance.

Trainer Simon Callaghan said on Wednesday that Maxim Rate “will be staying local” this year with the hope that she can accomplish enough in the summer and fall to merit a start in the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf at Del Mar on Nov. 6.

ARCADIA, Calif. – This has been a record-breaking, or at least record-equaling, year of stakes wins in a single meeting at Santa Anita for jockey Flavien Prat and trainer Bob Baffert.

Monday, Country Grammer gave Baffert his 17th stakes win of the winter-spring meeting in the Grade 1 Hollywood Gold Cup, surpassing the record of 16 he set in the 1998-99 season.

ELMONT, N.Y. – In addition to the usual fare of ample wagering opportunities, there is a bevy of two-day wagers being offered this week.

There will be a two-day pick six that consists of Friday’s Grade 2 True North, Grade 2 Belmont Gold Cup, and Grade 2 New York, and a trio of Grade 1 stakes Saturday, the Jaipur, Metropolitan Handicap, and Belmont Stakes.

That pick six will have a 20-cent base wager with a 15 percent takeout. The regular $1 pick six on Friday will be on the last six races, but the same wager on Saturday is on races 6-11.

ELMONT, N.Y. – Over the last year, Calumet Farm has won some of the biggest races on the New York Racing Association circuit, and at big prices, to boot.

Last August, Vexatious ($21) won the Grade 1 Personal Ensign at Saratoga, beating champion Midnight Bisou. In December, True Timber ($16.60) pulled off a mild upset in the Grade 1 Cigar Mile at Aqueduct. In April, Bourbonic returned the biggest mutuel ($146.50) in the history of the Grade 2 Wood Memorial. Three weeks ago, Channel Cat scored a front-running upset ($18.40) in the Grade 1 Man o’ War at Belmont Park.

ELMONT, N.Y. – While there has been a lot of discussion how the start of the Kentucky Derby impacted the performance of expected pacesetter Rock Your World, jockey Luis Saez believes his horse, Essential Quality, was also adversely impacted by the bump between those two horses leaving the starting gate.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – A field of 10 older turf sprinters led by Carotari and Totally Boss is entered in the $110,000 Mighty Beau, which ends an 11-race Saturday card that precedes the simulcast of the Belmont Stakes.

The Mighty Beau goes at 5:58, nearly an hour before the Belmont.