Controversial Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit has finally been given the go-ahead to run in Saturday’s Preakness Stakes after trainer Bob Baffert consented to beefed-up pre-race scrutiny of his runners at Pimlico this weekend.

It is rare that a horse looks as well as Godolphin’s Mystic Guide does after a trip across the world and top effort in a Group 1 race, but the son of Ghostzapper has evidently flourished since arriving back at trainer Mike Stidham’s Barn 2 at Keeneland Racecourse in Lexington, Kentucky, USA.

Irish Derby winner Sovereign will make his US debut for new trainer Chad Brown in the G1 Man o’War Stakes (10.44pm BST) on a stakes-laden card at Belmont Park on Saturday [May 8].

Godolphin trainer Charlie Appleby is set to break new ground with a small team of four horses stabled in New York ready for the Belmont Stakes Festival in early June.