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Heating up1. Stellar Wind I dont want to go overboard based on a single performance by a filly already with an Eclipse Award on her résumé, but when Stellar Wind put away Beholder in the stretch of the Grade 1 Clement L. Hirsch Stakes on Saturday it cemented her credentials as a truly elite racehorse. She outfinished a three-time champion and a two-time Breeders Cup winner and earned her second career Grade 1 win. The other Grade 1 win came in the Santa Anita Oaks, which was restricted to 3-year-old fillies. Sure, she finished second in the 2015 Longines Breeders Cup Distaff, but horse racing, and sports in general, are about victories ? and this was a heck of a Grade 1 victory over a future Hall of Famer. Stellar Wind earned a career-best 108 Equibase Speed Figure and improved upon a runner-up finish to Beholder in her 2016 debut, which marked her first start in more than seven months. Not every racehorse gets better with age, but Stellar Wind looks even better at 4 than she did as champion 3-year-old filly in 2015.2. Exaggerator Exaggerator is who we thought he was: an incredibly consistent racehorse who really competes (almost) every time he steps on the racetrack and absolutely relishes a muddy track. But by defeating Nyquist in the betfair.com Haskell Invitational Stakes for the second time in four starts this year, Exaggerator positioned himself as arguably the leader in the race for the Eclipse Award as champion 3-year-old male. Theres no doubt an equally compelling case can be made for Nyquist, but right now theyre locked in a duel that figures to go right down to the wire. Equally important, in my opinion, was that Exaggerator rebounded from the first real dud he had run since his career debut in June 2015: when he finished 11th of 13 in the Belmont Stakes. For a runner who had finished in the top three in nine of 10 races entering the Belmont and had not been beaten by more than three lengths, the Belmont (beaten by 14 lengths) was a true head-scratcher. Its probably safe to draw a line through that race now as the result of a taxing Triple Crown trail. If you do that, you find a racehorse who recorded an Equibase Speed Figure between 103 and 108 in seven races (not counting the Belmont) since November 2015. Thats consistency.Tie 3. Lord Nelson and A. P. Indian I STRONGLY considered Laoban for the third spot, but he had everything his way in a breakthrough win in the Grade 2 Jim Dandy Stakes and I want to see him do it again before I climb on board his bandwagon. Instead, I landed on a pair of sprinters that I had a difficult time separating: Lord Nelson and A. P. Indian. It looks Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert has found the comfort zone for Lord Nelson in sprints after trying to stretch him out on multiple occasions in 2014 and 2015 to find out if he was a contender for the U.S. Triple Crown races. He closed his 3-year-old season with a third behind eventual champion sprinter Runhappy in the seven-eighths of a mile Malibu Stakes that was better than it looked on paper. Hes won all three of his starts in 2016 while exclusively sprinting, including a powerhouse four-length runaway in the Grade 1 Bing Crosby Stakes on July 31 at Del Mar that gave him back-to-back Grade 1 wins and a new career-best 119 Equibase Speed Figure. Likewise, A. P. Indian has yet to taste defeat this year. After winning his season debut via disqualification, A. P. Indian scored a repeat win in the Donald Levine Memorial Stakes at Monmouth Park and earned his first graded stakes win in the Grade 3 Belmont Sprint Championship Stakes. He then dusted the competition in the Grade 1 Alfred G. Vanderbilt Handicap at Saratoga Race Course on July 30. Hes earned Equibase Speed Figures of 112, 113, 119 and 117 in four starts this year, so hes not only fast, hes consistent. With 2015 champion sprinter Runhappy yet to start a race this year, the TwinSpires Breeders Cup Sprint and the sprint division itself look wide open, which presents a golden opportunity for both Lord Nelson and A. P.Cooling down1. Creator Neither of the top two finishers from the Belmont Stakes delivered an especially inspiring performance in the Grade 2 Jim Dandy Stakes, but to me the most surprising dud came from Creator. Aside from his 13th-place finish in the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands, which was due in large part to a very troubled trip, Creator had run consistently well dating to his breakthrough first career win in February at Oaklawn Park. That stretch of races included Grade 1 wins in the Arkansas Derby and Belmont Stakes. I expected a strong performance from Creator in the Jim Dandy. While it was pretty clear that the pace setup was not ideal for a closer with only one speed horse in a short field, I still expected Creator to be doing his best running late and pass a few horses in the stretch to at least finish in the top three. But he didnt really run a step in the Jim Dandy and finished last of six. For a horse who looked like he was really coming into his own, the Jim Dandy was a step in the wrong direction for Creator.2. Beholder Before you become consumed with rage at my Beholder heresy, hear me out. I dont think Beholder ran a bad race on July 30 in the Grade 1 Clement L. Hirsch Stakes, her place in history is not jeopardized and I absolutely think she rebounds with a huge race in her next start. She simply got beat by a better filly when second in the Hirsch, but I never expected to type those words. Coming into the race, I was convinced Beholder was the best racehorse in training in the United States. I thought shed repeat against males in the TVG Pacific Classic Stakes and she was my pick to win this years Breeders Cup Classic. This loss to a member of her own division (older female) came as a complete shock; I just didnt think there was a female racehorse in the U.S. capable of beating her. Shes still a first-ballot Hall of Famer, but I can no longer make an argument for her as the best racehorse in training in the U.S. -- that is California Chrome -- and she might be just as likely to end up in the Longines Breeders Cup Distaff as the Classic this fall. This was a tough cooling down capsule to write for one of my all-time favorites, but I dont think she was anywhere close to her best in the Hirsch and we should see the powerhouse weve come to expect in her next start.3. Flintshires Competition I really struggled with this one. I couldnt take Nyquist because hes only lost twice and, like his other defeat, the betfair.com Haskell Invitational Stakes fourth-place finish on Aug. 1 came on a sloppy track. Sure, hes now lost back-to-back races, but until I see him lose on a fast track, Im reserving judgment. Same goes for Gun Runner ? as soon as the rain forecasts turned to reality I thought he had no shot in the Haskell. I dont think he wants any part of a sloppy track. While watching the Jim Dandy, I was disappointed that Destin did not win when he looked like he had every chance at the top of the stretch, but it was an oddly run race and he did run a career-best 111 Equibase Speed Figure in his first start since the Triple Crown trail. So, my other biggest takeaway from the weekend of racing was that other U.S.-based turf horses are in deep trouble when it comes to facing Flintshire. To quote Clubber Lang (played by Mr. T) from Rocky III, I pity the fool that has to face Flintshire this fall. The opposition did everything in its power to take him off his game in the Grade 2 Bowling Green Stakes on July 30, slowing the pace down to a crawl and keeping him boxed in along the rail, but when it came time for the sprint to the finish, Flintshire was in a class to himself. Hes got two lifetime Equibase Speed Figures for U.S. races -- a 131 for his runner-up finish in the 2014 Longines Breeders Cup Turf and a 132 for his Sword Dancer Stakes win in 2015 -- that place him in a group by himself among U.S. based turf runners when hes on his game. I cant see any way he loses on U.S. soil unless an elite runner makes the trip over from Europe. Otherwise, everyone else in the division is running for second when Flintshire is listed among the entries.For more stories like this check out Americas Best Racing. Stan Musial Cardinals Jersey . The 27-year-old Scrivens will be joining his third NHL club since signing with the Toronto Maple Leafs as a free agent in 2010. 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Tests earlier this week revealed a Grade 2 left hamstring strain for Sabathia, who was hurt in last Fridays start against San Francisco. Its an injury that will require about eight weeks to heal. He finished a disappointing campaign just 14-13 with a career-worst 4. NEW YORK -- Michael Phelps has brought back his famous pre-race scowl for Jimmy Fallon.Television cameras caught the intense grimace on the swimmers face at the Rio Olympics as he sat with his hood up and headphones on just before a race last month.Phelps made the face again during Thursdays Tonight Show after Fallon brought out a life-size cutout of a frowning Phelps.The 23-time gold medalist tells Fallon he was awarre the cameras were on him before the race, and he knew his face would become a point of conversation as soon as he made it.ddddddddddddPhelps has revealed he was listening to Future when he was caught on camera. He introduced the rappers performance at MTVs Music Video Awards Sunday night. ' ' '