LEXINGTON, Ky. – Something’s gotta give as Nakatomi and Heart Rhythm line up Saturday at Keeneland. Both are unbeaten in three starts on this main track, and they put those marks on the line in the Grade 3, $300,000 Commonwealth Stakes for older horses going seven furlongs.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – On paper, jumping from a listed stakes to a Grade 1 seems daunting. Saturday’s $300,000 Carter Handicap at Aqueduct hardly seems daunting for Repo Rocks, who puts his four-race winning streak on the line in the first Grade 1 stakes to be run on this circuit in 2023.

The Carter, which now has a field of six with the scratch of White Abarrio due to illness, does not include any upper echelon sprinters. 

“For a Grade 1, it’s not the toughest race I’ve ever seen,” said Jamie Ness, who is seeking his first Grade 1 win as a trainer.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Though trainer Linda Rice chose to run Arctic Arrogance in Saturday’s Grade 2, $750,000 Wood Memorial over the Grade 3, $200,000 Bay Shore, it didn’t leave her without a shot in the seven-furlong race for 3-year-olds at Aqueduct.

Rice will send out Joey Freshwater in the Bay Shore, and though she obtained the horse via the claim box, he does not look misplaced in this spot.

LEXINGTON, Ky. – He already has Forte as the Kentucky Derby favorite, with Kingsbarns as a backup. Next up for Todd Pletcher is putting the finishing touches on another hot prospect, Tapit Trice, in lining up the troops for the first Saturday in May.

ARCADIA, Calif. – Spring finally arrived at Santa Anita, where the disruptions during a wet winter were matched by instability among Santa Anita Derby and Kentucky Derby aspirants.

More than 34 inches of rain this season led to the cancellation or rescheduling of eight racing programs since opening day on Dec. 26, as horsemen juggled workouts and races around the weather. The chaos filtered into the California 3-year-old division.

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Caravel, one of three 2022 Breeders’ Cup winners returning to host track Keeneland this week, is looking for her third consecutive victory on this turf course as she headlines the field for the Grade 2, $350,000 Shakertown Stakes. However, the presence of the reigning Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint winner has scared no one away. There is a full field of 12, plus one also-eligible, for the 5 1/2-furlong tilt, and Caravel is the only female in the field.

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Conventional wisdom is that Breeders’ Cup winners making their first start back following a layoff are perennially overestimated. That would seem to apply to Goodnight Olive returning from a five-month rest Saturday in the Grade 1 Madison Stakes, but Chad Brown doesn’t necessarily agree.

“She hasn’t missed a beat,” Brown said of Goodnight Olive, who will make her 5-year-old debut as a heavy favorite in the $600,000 Madison. “She’s had a really nice winter.”

Five Star General might have a tactical advantage Saturday night when he runs in the $100,000 Evangeline Downs Mile.

“It looks like he could be the controlling pace,” said trainer Grant Forster.

A field of seven is set for Evangeline’s signature race, which is for 4-year-olds and up. It will be showcased on a card that includes the $60,000 Lafayette for 3-year-olds at six furlongs. First post is 5:30 p.m. Central.

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Florida invaders will dominate the pre-race speculation into the Grade 2 Appalachian Stakes.

Pleasant Passage, runner-up in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf last fall at Keeneland, will make her seasonal debut Saturday versus eight other 3-year-old fillies in the $400,000 Appalachian after finishing off her winter training in Florida for Hall of Fame trainer Shug McGaughey.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – After Occult successfully stretched out to 1 1/8 miles winning the Busher Invitational at Aqueduct in January, trainer Chad Brown was faced with the dilemma of shortening the filly up, shipping out of New York, or waiting nearly three months to run her back at the same distance.