HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Gulfstream Park Oaks runner-up My Miss Mo moved a step closer to joining the field for the Grade 1 Kentucky Oaks on May 1 at Churchill Downs after turning in a visually impressive half-mile breeze in 48.26 seconds, per Daily Racing Form, over a fast but cuppy track shortly after the second renovation break here Wednesday.

Fair Grounds Oaks winner Life of Joy, who was considered one of the early favorites for the Kentucky Oaks, has been declared out of the race as the picture for the filly classic continues to take shape.

Trainer Brad Cox told Churchill Downs representatives on Tuesday evening that Life of Joy – a stakes winner last fall at Churchill who impressively won the Grade 2 Fair Grounds Oaks over Bella Ballerina on March 21 – has incurred a “minor setback” and will be pointed to a fall campaign.

Renegade

Into Mischief – Spice Is Nice, by Curlin

Bred in Kentucky by Robert and Lawana Low ($975,000 Keeneland September yearling purchase by West Bloodstock, agent for Repole Stable)

Renegade’s performance in the Arkansas Derby made him the early Kentucky Derby favorite. He has a pedigree befitting a Derby favorite, as he is by one of the leading sires in the race’s history and from a strong female family with plenty of two-turn success.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – A turnback in distance, a drop in class, and a forward running style all should play into the favor of And One More Time when she starts in Friday’s $150,000 Plenty of Grace Stakes at Aqueduct.

The Plenty of Grace, for fillies and mares at one mile, is the first turf stakes of the year to be run on the New York Racing Association circuit. Originally scheduled for April 4, the Plenty of Grace was delayed after the start of the turf season was pushed back two weeks due to the impacts of extended cold temperatures this winter.

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Bendoog went up against a Grade 1 winner the last time he ran in the overnight ranks at Oaklawn Park. The story will be the same Friday when he meets Stronghold.

The pair is among seven signed on for an allowance for 4-year-olds and up over 1 1/16 miles. Others set to start include stakes winners Gould’s Gold and Seize the Night, the Grade 1-placed King Russell, the multiple stakes-placed Woodcourt, and the bred-in-the-purple Gun Party.

ARCADIA, Calif. – Spring at Santa Anita is always good for trainer Phil D’Amato, who expects his run to continue during the 2026 Hollywood Meet that begins Friday.

D’Amato led the spring meet standings in 2023, 2024, and 2025. He also led the Santa Anita winter-spring standings in 2021 and 2022 when statistics were compiled over an extended six-month season from late December to June. On the eve of the 2026 spring meet, D’Amato expressed optimism that his stable will be prominent throughout the two-month meet.

ARCADIA, Calif. – Everything starts from scratch this week at Santa Anita, even while local stars are leaving town.

Friday is opening day of the two-month Hollywood meet, and equine celebrities are shipping out. Locally based Grade 1 winners Journalism, British Isles, and Splendora will chase higher purses on richer circuits.

Last April at Keeneland, Gin Gin came out of nowhere to win the Doubledogdare Stakes at 38-1. Did that upset make believers out of the betting public? Generally, no. Back at Keeneland in October, Gin Gin went off at 18-1 in the Grade 1 Spinster. She won that, too.

ARCADIA, Calif. – The curious saga of Queen Maxima continues to stir discussion at Santa Anita following the mare’s flat third as the odds-on favorite April 4 in the Grade 3 Monrovia Stakes on the hillside turf course.

Contrary to an initial report by Daily Racing Form, stewards Grant Baker, Luis Jauregui, and Kim Sawyer were not party to the events that contributed to Queen Maxima’s disappointing finish as the shortest-priced favorite on the Santa Anita Derby card.