Bodog Beat

Golden Spikes will run in the Gr.1 $250,000 King's Bishop Stakes on Saturday. (AP Images)

Two Breeders' Cup Sprint prep races go this weekend, the King's Bishop Stakes and the Pat O'Brien Handicap.

Saturday's 24th running of the Gr. 1 $250,000 King's Bishop Stakes will feature 3-year-olds running seven furlongs at Saratoga. Among the hopefuls is Kentucky-bred Golden Spikes, who will be facing Grade 1 competition for the first time in his career. The Marty Wolfson-trained 3-year-old is coming into the race on a two-win streak, with victories in the Carry Back Stakes and the Unbridled Stakes. Aboard for both wins, jockey Elvis Trujillo will again get the assignment for the King's Bishop Stakes. Also expected to contend is Gentleman James, who was runner-up to Golden Spikes in his two previous outings.

Sunday's Gr. 1 $300,000 Pat O'Brien Handicap, a seven-furlong race to be run on a synthetic track at Del Mar, is a Breeders' Cup Challenge Series race and will grant the winner an automatic berth into the Breeders' Cup Sprint. The horse to watch will be 2007 Breeders' Cup Sprint champion Midnight Lute, whose trainer Bob Baffert has decided against racing him in the Gr. 1 Forego Handicap in Saratoga on Aug. 30, a race he won last year. Although Midnight Lute hasn't raced since being upset in the Cigar Mile last November, his workouts have been stellar – his latest clocking at five furlongs was 58.20 seconds.

Also on the list of potential contenders is Lewis Michael, a 5-year-old who seems to favor synthetic surfaces and will be coming off a fourth-place finish in the Sea O'Erin, and Arson Squad, a multiple Gr. 2 stakes winner who will be looking to rebound from a disappointing sixth place in the San Pasqual Handicap in January.

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