A good idea from Mike Watchmaker: "But when it comes to stakes races, I think Fair Grounds and Sunland are the latest to show us that, with a concerted, coordinated effort, there is an opportunity to create something potentially valuable here. Why not draw all major stakes races -- all Grade 1 and 2 events for sure, and whatever stakes that would make sense on light weekends -- farther in advance than 72 hours out, and make something special out of it?"

"If there was one race that tilted the emphasis of American racing toward speed and precocity, that race would be the Futurity Stakes."

Re: Salty Strike: "Those two victories also coincided with McPeek taking the filly off of Lasix, making her one of two of the 90 horses entered on Saturday’s card to run without the anti-bleeding medication. 'She seems to run well without it,' McPeek said. 'We feel like we can come back a little quicker because we’re not running on Lasix. She’s doing good right now.'"

"Grade 1 races for 2-year-olds made more sense when 2-year-old racing played a more prominent role, and when more juvenile Grade 1 winners went on to excel at 3 and beyond. As things stand today, having 2-year-old races make up 13 percent of the Grade 1 schedule -- when only eight percent of the total races run are for 2-year-olds -- exaggerates this division’s importance. Assigning Grade 1 ratings to races that don’t warrant them only cheapens the entire graded system."

"The failure of Breeders' Cup Ltd. and the Japan Racing Association to attract more than one foreign runner to the world's two richest dirt races provides some insight as to what the world at large thinks of dirt racing. America's surface of choice appears to be out of favor in most countries.... In this day and age, the quality of a championship race is determined in no small part by the number of top class foreign entries it contains."

Eliminate pari-mutuel clerks and outriders.

Beyer speed figure of 114 for Todd Pletcher trainee.

Garrett Gomez on the Belmont: "Stuff like this happens a lot of times in the bigger races. Everybody doesn't ride the same as they normally do. Trainers don't exactly give the same instructions. Sometimes in the bigger races some guys want to be a little more aggressive and some don't, so the combination of the two makes things work out completely different than you think they will." Possibly explains why it was Dunkirk, not Charitable Man, on the lead.

Recounting of Music Note's Mother Goose win, includes more info on her female family