Serengeti Empress returned to top form Aug. 8 in the $300,000 Ballerina Stakes (G1) at Saratoga Race Course, turning back fellow grade 1 winner Bellafina to claim the victory.

Trainer, co-owner, and co-breeder Larry Jones hopes a class break will help Street Band return to winning form Aug. 9 at Ellis Park when the 4-year-old daughter of Istan starts from an outside post in the $100,000 Runhappy Groupie Doll Stakes.

Top Racing, Global Thoroughbred, and GDS Racing Stable’s Bodexpress will look to dominate the $85,000 Alydar, a 1 1/8-mile test for 4-year-olds and up that have not won a stake this year other than state-bred, at Saratoga Race Course.

Whether in the sales ring or on the racetrack, County Final is commanding attention. The 2-year-old Oxbow colt, a $475,000 sales topper earlier this summer, picked up his first stakes win Aug. 8 by winning the $71,500 Tyro Stakes at Monmouth Park.

Earthlight is unbeaten in six starts, albeit nearly a year removed from his best effort, when he beat Raffle Prize in the Darley Prix Morny (G1). He has since beaten Golden Horde in the Middle Park Stakes (G1) and readily won a listed race July 12.

Steel Bull looks to be a ball of speed. A breeze-up graduate, he built on his debut win at Naas with victory in the July 29 Molecomb Stakes (G3) at Goodwood, but faces a big test stepping up to six furlongs in the Phoenix Stakes (G1) at the Curragh.

As of 12:25 p.m. EDT, Tiz the Law is a 1-5 favorite in advance wagering for the Aug. 8 Midsummer Derby at Saratoga Race Course. Of the $33,268 wagered to win so far, $20,690 has been placed on the 3-year-old son of Constitution.

Trainer Steve Asmussen couldn’t recall a prize to match his gifts for winning the 115th running of the $150,000 Saratoga Special Presented by Miller Lite (G2) with J. Kirk Robison’s Jackie Warrior.

Purses at Arlington International Racecourse will be raised 20% during the middle portion of its summer meet, according to levels listed in its recently released second condition book. That period covers racing there from Aug. 20-Sept. 12.

Spielberg, a $1 million yearling who is slated to contest a six-furlong maiden special weight Aug. 8 at Del Mar will face Superman Shaq, a half brother to champion Monomoy Girl, and Waspirant, whose dam was a grade 1 winner.

Santa Anita Park’s autumn stakes schedule will be similar to those from past seasons. The track has planned 24 stakes, 15 graded, over 18 racing days from Sept. 19 through Oct. 25.

The Aug. 8 Yellow Ribbon Handicap (G2T) at Del Mar presents another sizable opportunity to Sir Prancealot, the European stallion who has become something of a surprise hit in the United States.

The horse racing industry lost an avid horsewoman earlier this summer with the death of Dolly von Stade Bostwick Jr. on June 20 at age 66 at her home in Indiantown, Fla.

Top Racing, Global Thoroughbred, and GDS Racing Stable’s Bodexpress will look to dominate the $85,000 Alydar, a 1 1/8-mile test for 4-year-olds and up that have not won a stake this year other than state-bred, at Saratoga Race Course.

Racing will go ahead at the Curragh Aug. 9 despite a partial lockdown in County Kildare starting at midnight Friday, which will see movements restricted once again. 

They may have raced in the Triple Crown some 17 years apart, but in so many ways, Tiz the Law and Funny Cide are a coupled entry.

The memory of Sherwood Chillingworth, the longtime director and executive vice president of the Oak Tree Racing Association, will be honored with the Chillingworth Stakes to be run during Santa Anita’s autumn season.

Wesley Ward has three entered in the $75,000 Tyro Stakes Aug. 8, a five-furlong turf sprint at Monmouth Park, including Fauci, a promising juvenile who broke his maiden in his second start.

The champion 2-year-old male of 2019, Storm the Court is the leading money earner in the eight-horse La Jolla Stakes (G3T) at Del Mar Aug. 9, a grass race that also drew stakes winners Azul Coast, Indian Peak, Kanderel and Smooth Like Strait.