HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – When the $75,000 Sunshine Sprint failed to fill, it left a unique void on the local calendar, a stakes-less Saturday card during the Gulfstream Park Championship meeting.

But that’s not to say the 11-race program isn’t attractive since it features a trio of allowance events, two of which are carded, weather permitting, on the turf, along with a couple of open maiden special weight contests for 3-year-olds that always pique the interest of horseplayers this time of the year.

In her seven starts, Shimmering Allure has been favored just once, when she won a restricted maiden race in September at Churchill Downs. Saturday, in the $100,000 Busanda, Shimmering Allure will most definitely not be flying under the radar. She’ll be an odds-on favorite facing just four foes and will almost certainly win if she repeats her last two performances.

“She’s been rock solid from the beginning, but we’re not taking anything for granted,” said trainer Kenny McPeek.

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – There’s a little diva in Divine Gal, who brings a perfect 2-for-2 record into the inaugural running of the $150,000 Mockingbird Stakes on Saturday at Oaklawn Park.

She’s part of a field of six for the six-furlong race named for the state bird of Arkansas. The group of 3-year-old fillies also includes Sharp Tune, who is a candidate to wire her rivals; Tanya Showers, who owns the field’s best last-race Beyer Speed Figure for a maiden win at Oaklawn; and Xtreme Smoke Show, who is making her first start since October.

ARCADIA, Calif. – Although the annual registered foal crop in California has declined 60 percent in the past 15 years, the state still produces an occasional jewel, including a gem who launches his 2024 campaign Saturday at Santa Anita.

The Chosen Vron, winner of 13 stakes, is the star of Saturday’s five-stakes California Cup program for statebreds. The popular gelding figures as the most heavily fancied runner on the card and is odds-on to win the $150,000 Don Valpredo California Cup Sprint. Everyone loves The Chosen Vron.

The purse for the Grade 1 Kentucky Derby, the most prestigious race in the United States, has been raised to $5 million, Churchill Downs announced Wednesday.

The $2 million increase in the purse will make the Derby the second-richest race in the country, just behind the $6 million Breeders’ Cup Classic. The Derby purse had been $3 million since 2019. It had been run for $2 million from 2005-18.

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Commandperformance might have some tactical and practical advantages in his favor when he meets Southern California shipper Heywoods Beach and a razor-sharp Frosted Departure in Friday’s eighth race at Oaklawn Park.

The $100,000 starter allowance for 3-year-olds and up will be run over 1 3/16 miles. A field of nine is set to start, including Time for Trouble and Dash Attack, who finished a respective second and third to Next in the Birdstone in July at Saratoga.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Factor It In has won three of the last four allowance races in which he’s run. Friday, the 8-year-old son of The Factor ships up from Maryland to New York to participate in another multi-conditioned allowance, which serves as the feature on Aqueduct’s eight-race program.

Factor It In, a two-time stakes winner, comes out of the Dave’s Friend Stakes on Dec. 23 at Laurel Park, where he finished fifth, beaten three-quarters of a length, in a field where eight of the top 10 finishers were separated by 2 1/2 lengths.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Three-year-olds are generally the focus, year in and year out, during the Gulfstream Park Championship meet. Friday’s card is a case in point and features a diverse trio of allowance races in the division, the first over the Tapeta course, the final pair to be decided, weather permitting, at distances of five furlongs and 1 1/16 miles on the turf.

Too Much Kiki’s win in the Darby’s Daughter division of the Texas Stallion Stakes on Saturday launched what could be a very productive Sam Houston meet for the Texas-bred daughter of Too Much Bling.

She is eligible for a number of restricted stakes throughout the season that runs into April.

“We’ve always liked her, been very high on her,” said trainer Bret Calhoun. “She started out at Lone Star, did well, and we ended up just giving her time off, pointing for this series of races at Sam Houston.”

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – The millionaire Mr. Wireless won his maiden at a mile at Oaklawn Park in 2021 and last week his 3-year-old half-brother Goldbrick did the same, rallying from well off the pace to win by a neck and earn a Beyer Speed Figure of 82.

“Goldbrick’s family has been good to us, kind of been the gift that keeps giving,” trainer Bret Calhoun said. “He looks like another good one.”