There was a lot of interesting racing over the long holiday weekend. Let’s talk about some of it in notes form: Grade 2 Suburban Stakes: It’s hard to know whether to be excited about the breakthrough of Preservationist in Saturday’s Suburban at Belmont, or disappointed by the loss of Catholic Boy in that race. Perhaps the answer is both. One thing is for sure, Preservationist’s connections were rewarded for having admirable patience with him. Preservationist had won four of his last five starts dating back to early 2018, but he was also a 6-year-old entire horse making his stakes debut, which is something you hardly ever see anymore. In any case, Preservationist showed the way early in the Suburban, which was also only his eighth career start, remained unruffled when Catholic Boy had to have the early lead, regained command into the stretch and drew off. Preservationist earned a preliminary Beyer Figure of 108 that strongly suggests more stakes success is in his future if he can remain on the track. Catholic Boy finished second in the Suburban, beating nine opponents, so his effort wasn’t necessarily a bad one. But he was rank early, and certainly no match for Preservationist late. Simply put, Catholic Boy didn’t perform like the major player in the older dirt male division many expected him to be, including me. It would be foolish to write him off after one race, but now it is fair to wonder if turf might be the more lucrative path for him. Grade 3 Dwyer Stakes: Code of Honor was very good winning Saturday’s Dwyer at Belmont. He came from well off a pace that was not exactly conducive to such an approach – the half-mile split of the one-mile Dwyer was 47.95 seconds; the only half mile main track split that was slower Saturday at Belmont was the 48.09 Catholic Boy got away with in the 1 1/4 mile Suburban – yet Code of Honor still overwhelmed his Dwyer field through the stretch, winning off in isolation. This was the first step in a plan formulated by trainer Shug McGaughey for Code of Honor after his colt was moved up to second in the Kentucky Derby. McGaughey wanted Code of Honor to be a summer horse, and with the way the 3-year-old male division has gone since the Derby, leaving the title wide open for the taking, a successful summer 3-year-old male campaign this year could be a direct path to a divisional title. Code of Honor will have to step it up in races like the Jim Dandy and Travers, and beyond. But he’s fresh, he’s good, and he has every right to move forward off the Dwyer. Grade 3 Delaware Oaks: In her first three starts this year – losses in the Davona Dale, Ashland and Kentucky Oaks – Jaywalk didn’t look anything like the filly who rode romps last fall in the Frizette and Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies to the 2-year-old female Eclipse Award. But while I’m hesitant to proclaim Jaywalk as being all the way back in the wake of her runaway victory in Saturday’s Delaware Oaks at Delaware Park, especially since she was in with a field that was, to a significant degree, tailored to make her look good, her early speed approach resurfaced after being absent, and her effort was unquestionably a big step in the right direction. In watching the Delaware Oaks live, I was incredulous when, after Jaywalk’s half mile was posted in 47 3/5 (Delaware posts times in fifths of a second in their television feed), a six-furlong split of 1:09 1/5 was posted. That would have meant Jaywalk went her third quarter in the 1 1/16-mile race in a near impossible 21 3/5. Notably, that Delaware Oaks three-quarter-mile fraction was changed to 1:10 3/5 on the chart. The game is racing. Races are won by, and bets are paid off on, the horses who run fastest. It’s 2019. It’s unbelievable that unreliable timing of races is still even a concern, let alone an almost daily issue at several tracks. Grade 3 Victory Ride Stakes: While on the subject of 3-year-old fillies, Royal Charlotte was a decisive winner of Friday’s Victory Ride Stakes at Belmont, improving her record to 4 for 4 and earning a start in the Test Stakes at Saratoga on Aug. 3 on the Whitney undercard. This Test promises to be something else. Potential starters include such exciting 3-year-old filly sprinters as Break Even, Covfefe, and Royal Charlotte, as well as two Grade 1 stakes winners cutting back in distance – Kentucky Oaks winner Serengeti Empress and Bellafina. Grade 1 Belmont Derby: Henley’s Joy, who upset Saturday’s Belmont Derby at 20-1, was (at the risk of sounding like a red-boarder) an example of a horse who fell through the pari-mutuel cracks in a big field. His form early in his career was solid – he was, after all, only 11-1 in a field of 14 in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf – and his recent form was clouded by a couple of tough trips and an unsuccessful experiment on dirt. That said, the strong impression I had after the Belmont Derby was you could have run the race five times and had five different results. And I know one of those different outcomes would have seen Rockemperor, the one I liked in the Belmont Derby, get up in time. In reality, Rockemperor finished a fast-closing third after being left with way, way too much to do through the stretch. Grade 1 Belmont Oaks: I had the exact opposite impression after Concrete Rose won the Belmont Oaks. Concrete Rose was so dominant in victory that if the Belmont Oaks was run four other times, it’s difficult envisioning her not winning at least three of those times, if not all of them. Concrete Rose has now lost only once in a six-race career, and that loss, in last fall’s Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf, comes with an asterisk. That race was run on a deep, tricky course not every horse liked, and the inside, where Concrete Rose spent a good part of that race, was definitely not the place to be. Anyway, Concrete Rose has taken her game to a higher level in her last two starts – she was most impressive winning the Edgewood prior to the Belmont Oaks – and has become a fun horse to watch. ► The Belmont Derby and Oaks were run two races apart at 1 1/4 miles on the inner turf course, but don’t bother comparing the final times of the two races. The Belmont Derby went in 1:58.29 after internal fractions of 47.80 and 1:11.60. The Belmont Oaks went in 1:59.97. However, the corresponding internal fractions of the Oaks were 49.16 and 1:14.14. Apples and oranges. John Nerud Stakes: There is no question that the stumbling start Killybegs Captain suffered in the John Nerud Stakes Saturday at Belmont made matters much easier for Promises Fulfilled. Killybegs Captain was the only member of the Nerud field capable of putting early pressure on Promises Fulfilled. But with him out of the pace mix because of his poor start, Promises Fulfilled was completely unpressured early, and he rode that advantage to a lengthy score. Still, after finding himself in one tough spot after another over his last four starts, I wouldn’t be at all surprised if the Nerud proves to be a much-needed confidence builder for Promises Fulfilled, and propels him to stronger performances in the near term. ► I made my first pass through the past performances for Thursday’s opening day card at Saratoga and was struck by this little fact: The Schuylerville Stakes has last out winners from Laurel, Gulfstream, Indiana Grand, Parx, Santa Anita, and Belmont. I love that.