A healthy mix of proven 3-year-old stakes runners and flashy maiden winners will face off in the $80,000 English Channel Stakes at Gulfstream Park on Saturday. Forged Steel, a front-running colt trained by Saffie Joseph Jr., finished second in the Cutler Bay last time out and will break from the rail going one mile on turf.

“They went a little quick last time, but we wanted to ride him like that and we think he ran well,” Joseph said. “This time, he’s drawn good on the inside and he’s speed, so he’s going into the race with a good chance.”

Kay Army, a 5-year-old horse trained by Bill Mott, will make his long-awaited North American debut in the Grade 2 Fort Marcy on Saturday at Aqueduct. The 11-race card also includes the $150,000 Elusive Quality, a six-furlong turf sprint.

Undefeated in 10 starts in Chile, Kay Army has not raced since winning the Group 1 El Derby in March 2024.

“We’ve had him in Florida all winter and he’s trained forwardly,” Mott said. “He has some impressive form, but I guess he hasn’t done it for us yet over here. I’m anxiously waiting to see how he does in his races over here.”

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Horses who win the Grade 2, $600,000 Twin Spires Turf Sprint Stakes have gone on to big things. Two years ago, Nobals won in a season he concluded by winning the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint. Last year, Cogburn used a win here as a launching pad to set a North American record in his subsequent start.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The best race Gate to Wire has run in his career came going one turn on dirt in the Swale Stakes, where he got to take advantage of a hot early pace and won by five lengths. Saturday’s Grade 2, $600,000 Pat Day Mile at Churchill Downs could set up in similar fashion when Gate to Wire makes his second start going one turn on dirt.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Nik Juarez will ride in his first Kentucky Derby on Saturday when he climbs aboard American Promise. The guys around him know the ropes pretty well.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – It took nearly a year, but Brian Hernandez Jr. said it’s finally sunk in that he won the Kentucky Oaks and Kentucky Derby 24 hours apart last year.

When Hernandez rode Thorpedo Anna to an emphatic victory in the Oaks on May 3 and Mystik Dan to a nose score in the Derby the following day – both for trainer Kenny McPeek – he became the eighth jockey to pull off the feat in the 150-year history of both races. He was the first to do it since Calvin Borel won both in 2009.

ARCADIA, Calif. – A sure sign spring has arrived at Santa Anita is the season’s first maiden race for 2-year-olds on Friday. As usual, trainer Jorge Periban, stallion Stay Thirsty, and breeder Terry Lovingier are smack in the middle of the action.

California-bred juvenile fillies led by the Periban-trained My Love Caroline race 4 1/2 furlongs in race 4 as the juvenile season begins Friday with familiar overtones. Four of the eight entrants are sired by Stay Thirsty and five were bred by Lovingier, including My Love Caroline.

“She’s got a lot of speed,” Periban said.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – There was nothing modest about how She Feels Pretty finished her 3-year-old season. The filly turned seriously imperious, winning the Grade 1 Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup by more than six lengths and the Grade 1 American Oaks by 2 1/2. Neither are expectations for her 4-year-old season modest when She Feels Pretty starts Friday at Churchill Downs in the $400,000 Modesty Stakes.

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Catch Skelly.

That was the competition’s task for the last two runnings of the Lake Hamilton at Oaklawn Park, and it’s the case again Friday, when the outstanding sprinter seeks to win the $200,000 stakes for the third year in a row.

The Lake Hamilton, which is for 4-year-olds and up at six furlongs, goes as the eighth race on a 12-race card that has a special first post of noon Central. The meet’s penultimate program also includes the $175,000 Bachelor for 3-year-olds, which drew multiple stakes winner Kale’s Angel.