Oaklawn Park: Borel reunites with Rose to Gold for Apple Blossom

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Jockey Calvin Borel will have the mount on Rose to Gold in the Grade 1, $600,000 Apple Blossom next Friday, said her trainer, Sal Santoro. It will be the first time Borel has teamed with the near millionaire since she was eighth in last year’s Kentucky Oaks. Prior to that race, Borel guided Rose to Gold to victories in the Grade 3 Fantasy and Grade 3 Honeybee, both at Oaklawn.

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Santoro said Friday that Rose to Gold has settled in well at Oaklawn, where she shipped last week from her base at Calder in Miami. Her final work for the Apple Blossom was scheduled for Saturday.

◗ Trainer Todd Pletcher said Gary Stevens has the mount on Golden Lad in the Grade 2, $600,000 Oaklawn Handicap next Saturday. The barn will also send out Revolutionary, who will be ridden by Mike Smith.

◗ The Louisiana-bred sprint sensation Heitai has arrived at Oaklawn, according to racing secretary Pat Pope. Trainer Karl Broberg is pointing Heitai for the Grade 3, $300,000 Count Fleet Sprint Handicap on Thursday.

◗ Dee’s Baby is back in the maiden ranks in Sunday’s ninth after being disqualified from her Feb. 27 win at Oaklawn due to a positive test for the Class 4 medication betamethasone. The purse for the race was redistributed and her trainer, Stanley Roberts, was fined $1,000 in a ruling stewards issued Thursday.

◗ Let Faith Arise is targeting the Apple Blossom and she is to be ridden by Corey Nakatani, said trainer Jerry Hollendorfer.

- additional reporting by Jay Privman