Vasilika, the $40,000 claim that has turned into one of the top female turf runners in the country, worked six furlongs on Del Mar’s Jimmy Durante Turf Course July 28 in her final work for the Aug. 3 Yellow Ribbon Handicap (G2T) at the seaside oval.

Godolphin’s multiple group 1 winner Thunder Snow returned to the Saratoga Race Course main track July 28 for his last major work heading into the Aug. 3 $1 million Whitney Stakes (G1).

Last year’s European champion 3-year-old Roaring Lion is recovering from successful colic surgery in New Zealand. The operation has ruled the son of Kitten’s Joy out of covering mares during the Southern Hemisphere season at Cambridge Stud.

Karl Burke’s star filly Laurens landed a super sixth group 1 success with a dominant display in the Prix Rothschild (G1) at Deauville July 28.

Trainer Brittany Russell and Dark Horse Racing’s 2-year-old filly Hello Beautiful became the first winner for freshman sire Golden Lad when she romped to a 5 1/2-length win at Laurel Park July 27.

William Stiritz’s homebred W W Fitzy opened up and won by an easy 7 1/2 lengths in Saturday’s Sharon N. Kirby Memorial Stakes at Arlington International Racecourse.

Tax parted the murky waters of the 2019 sophomore season and emerged victorious July 27 in the $600,000 Jim Dandy Stakes Presented by NYRA Bets (G2) at Saratoga Race Course.

Raymond Mamone’s Imperial Hint buried his competition July 27 to take home his second consecutive win in the $350,000 Alfred G. Vanderbilt Handicap (G1) at Saratoga Race Course.

Owlette was the first to win for freshman sire Frac Daddy May 3, and July 27 she became her sire’s first black-type winner as well with a wire-to-wire victory in the $125,000 Shady Well Stakes for Ontario-bred 2-year-old fillies at Woodbine. 

Despite initial reluctance to load into the gate July 21, Hronis Racing’s Cistron picked up the first grade 1 win of his career in the $300,000 Bing Crosby Stakes (G1) at Del Mar.

Rockingham Ranch and David Bernsen’s Wrecking Crew made his career debut a winning one at Del Mar July 27 with a facile victory in a six-furlong maiden special weight, becoming the first winner for freshman sire Sky Kingdom.

Calumet Farm’s homebred Channel Cat took command in the $250,000 Bowling Green Stakes (G2T) July 27 at Saratoga Race Course and never relinquished his lead. It was the first graded victory for the 4-year-old English Channel colt.

Raymond Mamone’s Imperial Hint buried his competition July 27 to take home his second consecutive win in the $350,000 Alfred G. Vanderbilt Handicap (G1) at Saratoga Race Course.

Trainer Mike Maker will be represented by a pair of strong contenders in the second leg of the Turf Trinity in the Aug. 4 Saratoga Derby when he saddles Henley’s Joy and newcomer Kadar.

Laurens was a heroine of the 2018 flat season, notching four group 1 victories at ParisLongchamp, Chantilly, and Newmarket. But this year things have been less straightforward for Karl Burke and John Dance’s star filly.

Wendell Fong, 3-for-3 with a stakes win at six furlongs, will face the question about how much an additional half-furlong matters in the $200,000 Amsterdam Stakes (G2) at Saratoga Race Course.

Julie Krone will be honored at Del Mar Aug. 17 when she will be recognized as the 16th winner of the Laffit Pincay Jr. Award in ceremonies during the TVG Pacific Classic Day program.

Superstar Enable demonstrated astonishing guts and class July 27 to fend off Crystal Ocean, the highest-rated horse on the planet, in an epic edition of the QIPCO King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes (G1) at Ascot.

Each Saturday NTRA and BloodHorse provide a one-stop guide to the day’s graded stakes races. Races are listed in chronological order (all times Eastern). Click on links for full preview.