LOUISVILLE, Ky. – With some two weeks to go before the 146th Kentucky Derby, fewer than half of the expected starters in the Sept. 5 race are on the grounds at Churchill Downs as travel plans begin to solidify for the balance of the field.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Trainer Robert Tiller reports that three-time Canadian champion sprinter Pink Lloyd emerged from his dramatic victory in Saturday’s Grade 3 Bold Venture none the worse for wear.

Pink Lloyd awaited room in the 6 1/2-furlong event before splitting rivals through a narrow opening in the stretch. He then opened on the field before holding on to prevail by a neck, recording his 22nd stakes win from 30 starts for Entourage Stable.

Officials of Monmouth Park in New Jersey and the state’s Thoroughbred horsemen’s group will petition the state racing commission to allow the track to distribute purse money to horsemen without first receiving the results of post-race drug tests, the track’s top official said Tuesday afternoon.

Kentucky Downs in Franklin, Ky., has canceled plans to allow a limited number of spectators ontrack at its upcoming six-day Runhappy meet in September, citing recent surges in coronavirus positives in Kentucky and Tennessee, the state immediately to its south.

In a press release, the track said that any tickets that have already been sold for the meet will be refunded. The track had initially planned to allow some reserved grandstand seating and to enable patrons to access outdoor areas, but those plans have been scrapped.

Most jockeys who plan to ride during any of the six live race cards scheduled at Kentucky Downs in September will need to test negative for coronavirus twice in the 72 hours leading up to their arrival at the track, Kentucky Downs announced Monday.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Trainer David Donk enjoyed a memorable afternoon Sunday, winning three races on Saratoga’s 10-race card.

Donk won race 4, a $40,000 claimer, with Sky Kitten ($37); race 7, a first-level New York-bred allowance with Winning Factor ($19.60); and the eighth, an allowance race for statebred females with the 8-year-old mare Jc’s Shooting Star ($22.20).

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SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – The expectation that Chad Brown would dominate the trainer standings for the third straight summer at Saratoga has not come to fruition. Yet.

After a two-week lull where he won just three races from 32 in which he had at least one starter, Brown won five races last week. Through the first 24 days of racing, Brown has 18 wins from 86 starters and is tied for the meet lead in wins with Todd Pletcher, himself a 13-time leading trainer at Saratoga.

While the Pacific Classic is the obvious focus of the Saturday card, four other stakes support it, most notably the Del Mar Oaks, the day’s other Grade 1 race.

DEL MAR, Calif. – Maximum Security will be favored in the Pacific Classic on Saturday at Del Mar, a race to which trainer Bob Baffert also nominated two other top older horses in his care, Improbable and McKinzie. While both those horses are passing the race, they worked in recent days at Del Mar, and plans are being finalized for their next starts.

McKinzie was given an official time of 1:00.40 for five furlongs on Sunday morning for a drill that included an extensive gallop-out. He most recently was fifth on July 4 at Belmont Park in the Met Mile after losing two shoes.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Jockeys Manny Franco, Javier Castellano, and Tyler Gaffalione have dropped appeals of three-day suspensions handed them by the stewards at this meet and will serve their days over the next two weeks.

Franco, the rider of leading Kentucky Derby contender Tiz the Law, will miss Wednesday through Friday. Franco was suspended for his ride on Price Talk in the second race here on July 16, which resulted in a disqualification of that horse from first to fourth.