Forty-two years ago, when Fio Rito won the Whitney Stakes (G1) at Saratoga Race Course it sent for the first time a loud message from one coast to another that New York State-breds could compete with the nation’s top horses in open races.

British-bred Big Everest brings a four-race win streak into his graded stakes debut in the $175,000 Kelso Stakes (G3T) July 15 at Saratoga Race Course. The one-mile inner turf test for older horses was previously run as the Forbidden Apple Stakes.

Santa Anita will offer a stakes schedule featuring 42 stakes, including 15 grade 1 stakes among its 31 graded events that encompass the 40th Breeders’ Cup World Championships Nov. 3-4.

Five horses are entered in the Diana Stakes (G1T). Four of them, including favorite In Italian, will be coming from trainer Chad Brown’s barn.

Three Chimneys Farm’s first-crop yearling sire led his sire class with a $145,000 average from five sold during the July 11 Fasig-Tipton July Sale in Lexington.

The heat index may have permitted racing under state guidelines, but the cancellation was made “out of an abundance of caution.” Races canceled for Friday through Sunday have been moved to July 21.

Trainer Chad Brown will give two of his previous grade 1 competitors class relief when Juddmonte’s Accede and Klaravich Stables’ Randomized seek their first stakes triumph July 14 in the second edition of the $135,000 Wilton Stakes.

International trade tends to be a key feature of the Tattersalls July Sale, but July 12 it was the domestic buying bench that made the most notable impact, with the 320,000gns top lot set to join the Willie Mullins battalion. 

A federal judge refused to enjoin the operations of the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority in a July 11 ruling after a hearing in Little Rock, Ark.

Mick Fire closed a big deficit in the stretch run to win the Japan Dirt Derby at Oi Racecourse, completing a sweep of the races that in 2024 will comprise the Japanese Dirt Triple Crown.