Pure Clan working toward return

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - Pure Clan, who is arguably the top turf female in training, is coming right along in her preparations for her season debut. She worked a bullet five furlongs in 59.60 seconds on dirt at her Oaklawn base last week and remains on schedule for an intended start in the Grade 2, $200,000 Churchill Downs Distaff Turf Mile on May 1, trainer Bob Holthus said.

Pure Clan has not raced since finishing second in the $2 million Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf on Nov. 6. Holthus was pleased with Pure Clan's workout, which was her first five-eighths drill of the year. He said she was freshened following the Breeders' Cup.

Pure Clan is a multiple Grade 1 winner of $1.9 million. She races for her breeder, Lewis Lakin. With the Oaklawn meet having closed Saturday, she will now be based with Holthus at Churchill.

Cardiff Giant DQ'd after positive test

Cardiff Giant, who finished third in the Grade 3, $250,000 Southwest Stakes at Oaklawn on Feb. 20, has been disqualified after testing positive for Clenbuterol and two nonsteroidal anti-inflammatories. The positive test was confirmed through a split sample, according to an Oaklawn ruling issued April 10.

The board of stewards ordered the purse redistributed in an action that moves Mission Impazible from fourth to third in the race. Jorge Periban, who trains Cardiff Giant, was fined $1,000 for the positives and suspended seven days from April 18-24. Periban said Saturday that he will not appeal the ruling. Cardiff Giant has raced twice since the Southwest, finishing fifth in the Grade 2, $300,000 Rebel at Oaklawn and 10th in the Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby.

Lara ban set through April 27

Trainer Jorge Lara, was suspended in February by the Oaklawn stewards pending adjudication in a domestic battery case. The stewards have lifted the summary suspension and issued a 60-day ban after the court system reduced Lara's charges from a second-degree felony to a misdemeanor. Lara pled no contest in court and was found guilty, according to a stewards ruling issued Friday.

Lara's suspension is retroactive to Feb. 27 and will run through April 27.

* Jockeys Cliff Berry and Larry Sterling Jr. will both serve three-day suspensions for riding infractions in the next few weeks after dropping appeals of rulings at Oaklawn. Berry, who is headed to Lone Star Park, will serve his days April 11, 15, and 16. Sterling will not ride April 14-16.

* The Arkansas Racing Commission on Saturday overturned the stewards' decision to void two claims made at Oaklawn because of the relationship between the trainers who made the claims. Scott Mullins and his girlfriend, Cynthia Gastel, dropped claims for two different horses in the first race March 31. They can now keep the horses.

* Oaklawn handled $7.2 million from all-sources on its Friday card, which featured Zenyatta in the Grade 1 Apple Blossom.