When last seen at the races, Carson’s Run finished ninth in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf at Santa Anita last November. The subsequent success of the horses who finished eighth and 10th in that race should boost the confidence of the connections and backers of Carson’s Run, who makes his 3-year-old debut in Saturday’s $125,000 Woodhaven Stakes at Aqueduct.

Endlessly, who finished eighth in the Juvenile Turf, has come back to win two stakes. Stay Hot, the 10th-place finisher in the Juvenile Turf, has come back to win three stakes in Southern California.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Churchill Downs opens its 43-day spring meet Saturday night, with a first post of 6 p.m., and the featured $200,000 Roxelana Stakes, for fillies and mares sprinting, will highlight the card. Taking the bulk of headlines Saturday night, however, will be the post position draws for both the Kentucky Derby and Kentucky Oaks, which will be held for the 150th consecutive year over the track next weekend.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Glen Todd, Patrick Husbands, and Danny Vella are among the 2024 inductees into the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame.

In sprints, at a mile, and in routes, California Spangle, Golden Sixty, and Romantic Warrior have been nearly impossible to beat in Hong Kong in recent years, which is why they are favored to win Group 1 races at Sha Tin Racecourse on Sunday.

Golden Sixty, the Horse of the Year in Hong Kong for the last three seasons, will be the lowest-price of the trio when he starts at around even-money in the $2.8 million Champions Mile.

A win would be Golden Sixty’s fifth consecutive victory in a Group 1 race. Golden Sixty has won the last three runnings of the Champions Mile.

VANCOUVER, British Columbia – The 2024 Hastings season gets under way Saturday with a six-race card that begins at 2:30 p.m. Pacific.

There is a major change to the 45-day meet that concludes Oct. 20. Sundays have been dropped during the early part of the schedule, and racing will be conducted on Fridays and Saturdays. The first Friday is set for May 10. Sundays will replace Fridays on Sept. 15. Post times for Saturday, Sunday, and holiday Mondays are 2:30 p.m. Friday racing will begin at 7 p.m.

ARCADIA, Calif. – The plan for The Chosen Vron to take it easy in April went out the window when the popular chestnut gelding worked four furlongs in a blazing 46.60 seconds last weekend under a hold by jockey Hector Berrios.

“I wanted to freshen [The Chosen Vron] off his previous race, but thought better of it because he’s just feeling so good,” trainer Eric Kruljac said.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Florida shipper Mystic Lake should be prominent in Woodbine’s opening-day feature Saturday, the $125,000 Star Shoot Stakes for 3-year-old fillies.

Based at Palm Meadows with trainer Saffie Joseph Jr., Mystic Lake graduated over the six-furlong distance of the Star Shoot last September in her first of three 2-year-old outings at Woodbine. She subsequently ran second in the Glorious Song Stakes and third in the Grade 3 Mazarine going 1 1/16 miles.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Woodbine launches its 2024 season Saturday with a slightly shorter meet that includes some noteworthy changes to its lucrative stakes schedule.

The meet is scheduled for 129 days, four less than previously, while going until Dec. 15. Racing will be conducted on weekends until May 10, when Fridays are added. Thursday cards begin May 23 with a post time of 4:50 p.m. Eastern. The post time for Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays is 1:10 p.m. The lone Monday program is Labor Day, Sept. 2.

When looking beyond the obvious two horses – Fierceness and Sierra Leone – as potential winners of the Kentucky Derby, the Japanese-based Forever Young is top of mind among a lot of handicappers.

This colt’s undefeated record (5 for 5) and the ever-growing success of Japanese horses on the international stage could combine to make Forever Young the third betting choice in Derby 150 run on May 4 at Churchill Downs.