Trainer Mike Dini has been running horses at Tampa Bay Downs since 1997 but he’s never had a better meet at the Oldsmar track than this year. His 26 wins from 148 starts – which has him third in the standings – topped his previous meet high of 23 which he’s accomplished twice.

“All my owners that breed horses are breeding better horses than they did before,” said Dini, who expects to have 50 horses this summer at Monmouth Park when the 2-year-olds come in.

STICKNEY, Ill. – The Chicago horse racing circuit, once a grand hub of the sport, is in tatters. That much already was known. Churchill Downs Inc. closed Arlington Park in 2021. Hawthorne Race Course is Chicago’s last track, hosting both Thoroughbreds and Standardbred racing.

At question now is how long even those tatters will exist.

Hawthorne on Thursday launches what’s supposed to be a 78-day race meet that runs through late October.

Two horses riding three-race winning streaks meet in Thursday’s second-level allowance/optional $62,500 feature scheduled for six furlongs on dirt at Gulfstream Park. Neither will be favored.

Suga Steve, a recent purchase out of a digital sale and now in the barn of Kent Sweezey, makes his South Florida debut following three straight victories at Laurel Park. Meanwhile, Air Combat, trained by Martin Drexler, seeks his third straight win over the Gulfstream dirt surface after racing predominantly over turf and synthetic in 2024.

ARCADIA, Calif. – The racing week at Santa Anita begins Friday with a carryover of $71,789 in the $2 pick six.

The bet proved too difficult to hit Sunday after upset wins by Wink And a Nod ($93) in the seventh race and Simplexity ($13.80) in the ninth and final race.

There were two horses covered in the pick six in Sunday’s ninth race. Mega Moon, who finished second, would have resulted in a pick six payout had he won the turf sprint.

ARCADIA, Calif. – With his first win as a 4-year-old in the Grade 3 San Luis Rey Stakes on Saturday, Atitlan confirmed his affection for Santa Anita’s turf course and showed he can run an extended distance of 1 1/2 miles.

Atitlan won the Grade 2 Twilight Derby at 1 1/8 miles on turf at Santa Anita last October for his first stakes win. His next assignment is likely to be at 1 1/4 miles in the Grade 2 Charles Whittingham Stakes on May 3.

“That seems like good timing,” trainer John Shirreffs said Sunday morning. “I don’t think he has distance limitations.”

It was sunny and brisk at Turfway Park on Saturday as Bless the Broken won the Bourbonette Oaks to punch her ticket to the Kentucky Oaks, but trainer Will Walden will be doing a rain dance on the first Friday in May.

“She’s really, really taken to that,” Walden said. “She ran really good in the slop. She’s always kind of shown an affinity for it. We’re kind of hoping for that, but we’ll run either way. She’s done nothing wrong, and she’s shown up every single time.”

Final Gambit wasn’t necessarily nominated to Turfway Park’s marquee card last Saturday with the intention of earning a Kentucky Derby berth.

Juddmonte general manager Garrett O’Rourke said trainer Brad Cox felt the homebred colt, who had made his three prior starts at a mile, would appreciate the 1 1/8-mile distance of the Grade 3 Jeff Ruby, a Kentucky Derby prep. If he did not get into what was expected to be a full field, they would reroute to the Rushaway Stakes – a race that does not offer Derby points – at 1 1/16 miles.