The 4-year-old colt Magnitude had an easy half-mile breeze Monday morning at Fair Grounds. He departed New Orleans for Florida the following day and, as of Friday, remained on schedule to fly from Florida to Dubai on Saturday.

David Fiske, the racing manager for Magnitude’s owner, Ron Winchell’s Winchell Thoroughbreds, said Friday morning that Magnitude’s trip for the $12 million Dubai World Cup on March 28 at Meydan Racecourse still is a go despite an ongoing military conflict in the Middle East.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – By far, Linda Rice has won the most races this winter at Aqueduct, but even she isn’t on the roll trainer Jimmy Ferraro has been on the last few weeks.

Ferraro, whose stable numbers 19 horses, has won with five of his last six starters at Aqueduct since Feb. 26.

Sunday, Ferraro seeks to add to his recent run when he sends out Howling Wind against two Rice trainees in a New York-bred second-level allowance/optional $45,000 claiming sprint on the eight-race Aqueduct program.

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Ms Carroll County, who starts as the probable favorite in the featured eighth race Sunday at Oaklawn Park, is a regular Katie Ledecky.

Swimming is part of the mare’s training regimen when appropriate, and she’s practically developed into gold medal material at trainer Tim Dixon’s farm in Greenbrier, Ark.

ARCADIA, Calif. – Mrs. Astor, a veteran turf mare with six stakes wins, has finally reached a career crossroads.

The 6-year-old is favored Sunday at Santa Anita in the Grade 3 Santa Ana Stakes, a $100,000 race that will determine her direction. One option is a full campaign in 2026, including the Grade 1 Gamely Stakes in May at Santa Anita. A second option is retirement to become a broodmare.

“We’ll let Sunday dictate the direction,” trainer Jonathan Thomas said this week. “If she’s in career form, and there’s a Grade 1 [ahead], it makes sense to try to wait for that.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Five-time Eclipse Award-winning jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. will take off his scheduled mounts through Sunday, per agent Steve Rushing, after being injured in an incident following the start of the fifth race Thursday at Gulfstream Park.

Ortiz was aboard A Moment a Love, a first-time starter trained by Carlos David, who ducked in after the start and ran into the rail. Ortiz was taken to nearby Aventura Hospital complaining of hip pain.

Bob Baffert has elected for a creative path to get Bottle of Rouge into this year’s Kentucky Oaks, and if the trainer is to be believed, reaching that race at Churchill Downs is a secondary goal for now. After going to Sunland Park for her 3-year-old debut last month, he will now ship Bottle of Rogue to Colonial Downs with a strong chance in the $250,000 Virginia Oaks on Saturday.

“We’re running for purse money, and if she develops into an Oaks filly, she’ll let us know,” Baffert said. “But right now, we’re just having fun with her.”

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Sprinters are featured Saturday at Oaklawn Park, with stablemates Wendelssohn and Tejano Twist starting as chief contenders in the Grade 3, $250,000 Whitmore and River Wind seeking to back up her impressive debut win with a stakes victory in the $150,000 Purple Martin.

Both of the stakes will be run at six furlongs. The Whitmore – named for the champion who regularly wintered at Oaklawn – is for 4-year-olds and up and serves as the final stepping-stone to the Grade 3, $500,000 Count Fleet Sprint Handicap.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Trainer Rick Dutrow Jr. laughed as he noted that it took six starts for Sculcos Folly to finally face New York-breds, something he did last Saturday when he won the Gander Stakes by 5 3/4 lengths at Aqueduct.

Prior to his victory in the Gander, Sculcos Folly won an open starter allowance by 9 3/4 lengths at Aqueduct after making two starts at Laurel and one at Monmouth Park.

Pretty slim stakes pickings Saturday, which is why Churchill Downs chose this mid-March date for its revamped Virginia Derby, switched last year from a late-summer turf race to a one-turn, nine-furlong Kentucky Derby prep. Whether the race becomes more than a nominal prep remains to be seen, but a winner still pays the same.

Virginia Derby