Desert Gate won his second consecutive stakes in the $300,000 Texas Derby on Monday at Lone Star Park. After his strong effort, all options are on the table going forward, trainer Bob Baffert said Thursday.

“If the Preakness was in two weeks, I’d be there,” Baffert quipped. “He’s ready for the Preakness now!”

Desert Gate shipped in from Baffert’s Southern California base and won the Texas Derby by 6 1/4 lengths one start after capturing the Hot Springs Stakes at a mile at Oaklawn Park. He earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 92 in the 1 1/16-mile Texas Derby.

GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas – Thermal turned up the heat Monday at Lone Star Park, earning a career-high Beyer Speed Figure of 106 for her win in the $100,000 Memorial Day Sprint. The Beyer is tied for the third-highest by a filly or mare on dirt this year in North America.

Trainer John Sadler said Thermal has stepped up her game since she began racing on dirt. She won the Memorial Day Sprint by 8 1/4 lengths, covering six furlongs in 1:08.56 on a track that had just been upgraded from good to fast.

ELMONT, N.Y. – It’s smaller, yes, but it’s not small. It’s a work in progress – and will be for several more months – but ultimately it will be a progressive facility.

The new Belmont Park, ready or not, will open Sept. 18, 38 months after the last race was held at Belmont Park. The smaller, sleeker building – at 275,000 square feet, it’s one-third the size of the old building – will be open on a limited basis to start. Only the first two floors will be open to the public and the fifth floor for operations/officials.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Shifty goes for two sprint scores in a row on Sunday at Woodbine in the featured conditioned allowance with an $80,000 claiming option. As the main speed in the six-furlong contest, she should be odds-on under Rafael Hernandez.

Shifty had a lucrative 2025 season under the guidance of trainer Mark Casse. After romping in a seven-furlong allowance in her season opener, she ran third at a short price in the seven-furlong Fury Stakes, after which she was favored in all three legs of the Canadian Triple Tiara for Canadian-bred 3-year-old fillies.

ARCADIA, Calif. – A hometown Grade 1 winner meets a Chilean Group 1 winner on Sunday at Santa Anita in a seven-furlong sprint stakes that will set up both horses for a summer campaign.

Stronghold stands out in the Grade 3 Triple Bend as he seeks his first stakes victory since the 2024 Santa Anita Derby. Anything short of a decisive Triple Bend win by Stronghold would be disappointing coming on the heels of a dead-heat comeback allowance win at Oaklawn Park.

Fort Erie’s 129th season, a 34-day meet that is significantly shorter than the border track’s traditional 40-day stand, kicks off on Sunday. Racing runs through Oct. 20 on a mostly Monday/Tuesday schedule beginning in late June, following a series of Sunday cards.

James Culic, Fort Erie’s manager of marketing and corporate communications, said the plan is to run the same number of races as in the past while strategically making the best of a declining horse population.

As Triple Crown season draws to a close with next weekend’s Belmont Stakes, a debate continues to rage within the sport about whether the three jewels – currently run within a five-week timespan – should be spaced out further.

Jorge Rosales, last year’s winningest trainer at Emerald Downs, would scoff at such chatter. It is not uncommon for “Run ’em Back Rosales” to give his horses just six or seven days between races, a scenario in which he’s won at a rather stunning 36 percent rate.

Trainer David Braddy has always felt Esperon had the ability to become part of the upper echelon of the local turf/synthetic sprint division. While the speedster has not quite risen to that level, he’s been edging ever closer of late.

On Saturday, the 5-year-old will try to take another step in that direction when he faces six rivals with similar aspirations in the $71,000 main event at Gulfstream Park. The race will be decided under high-priced optional-claiming and allowance conditions going five furlongs over the Tapeta course.

Stacking up excuses can be the most frustrating part of horse racing, and trainer Rob Atras is going through it with Neat. The talented but continually unlucky 5-year-old will ship to Monmouth Park in search of better fortunes in the $100,000 Cliff Hanger Stakes on Saturday.

“He’s a quirky horse,” Atras said. “He’s very tough to ride. No fault to anyone who’s struggled to ride him because he’s a tricky horse in the morning. He’s a tricky horse in the races. But when he does put it all together, he seems to be a pretty nice turf stakes miler.”