Ocala

5th-Laurel, $40,000, Msw KING OF EGYPT (c, 2, American Pharoah--Prof. McGonagall, by Storm Cat), hailing from a productive turf family and looking to become the seventh winner for his Triple Crown-winning freshman sire (by Pioneerof the Nile), dueled and drew off as a 5-1 shot Thursday. Chasing favored fellow firster Chapalu (Flatter) from the two path with another foe perched to his outside, the bay poked a head in front at the head of the lane and edged clear under confident handling late to prevail by 1 1/4 lengths. "It...

SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY--Horsemen and fans of New York racing are well familiar with the name Gary Gullo. The veteran trainer is consistently potent with claiming types and can get the right horse ready to win first out of the box. On the national scene, his name is much less recognizable, but that changed this year at Saratoga, when he had the distinction of being leading trainer after day one of the elite meet. He'll look to build on that honor when he starts two juvenile fillies in Sunday's GII Adirondack...

For one weekend, it seemed like the good old days for the Aiken, South Carolina Training Center. In fewer than 24 hours, starting with the July 5 evening card at Prairie Meadows, horses that had trained at Aiken won the GIII Cornhusker H., the GI Belmont Oaks Invitational, the GI Belmont Derby Invitational and the GIII Kent S. For a training center whose horse population now peaks at about 110, it was a tremendous accomplishment. But such a run of success was not unusual. That is if you take a...