OZONE PARK, N.Y. – A simple throat procedure has turned around the fortunes of National Identity, who goes for his fourth consecutive victory and first in a stakes in Saturday’s $135,000 Say Florida Sandy at Aqueduct.

The Say Florida Sandy, for older males at seven furlongs, is one of three New York-bred stakes on Saturday’s 10-race card that begins at 12:10 p.m. The Damon Runyon and East View, for 3-year-olds and 3-year-old fillies, respectively, have been brought back from the canceled card of Feb. 7.

Takethemoneyhoney will get the toughest test of her career when she takes on multiple stakes winners in the $200,000 Barbara Fritchie Stakes for fillies and mares on Saturday at Laurel Park. The 5-year-old mare has not yet run a step out of place for trainer Mike Moore, most recently rocketing home to win the $100,000 Geisha by 6 1/4 lengths in January.

Brilliant Berti and Lagynos have hit the highest performance level among the 10 horses entered in the Grade 3, $175,000 Fair Grounds Stakes, but you could feel pretty good about playing against them Saturday in the 1 1/8-mile grass race.

It’s great that the chance of Saturday afternoon rain in New Orleans has steadily diminished through the week. Also great: Fair Grounds’s decision to run the Risen Star, the last of a dozen Saturday races, more than an hour earlier than usual, in daylight rather than under lights.

Risen Star

I like Golden Tempo quite a bit – liked him in his debut, liked him in the Lecomte, both wins. Look at his light speed figures as a hint of capability rather than a hard cap on his ceiling, but Golden Tempo’s only the third most likely Risen Star winner.

Imagination ran arguably the best race of his career when he finished second in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint at Del Mar last November, a performance that puts him at the center of attention for Saturday’s Group 2 Riyadh Dirt Sprint at King Abdulaziz Racecourse in Saudi Arabia.

Trained by Bob Baffert, Imagination was an accomplished 3-year-old in 2024, winning the Grade 2 San Felipe Stakes at 1 1/16 miles and finishing second in the Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby at 1 1/8 miles.

In order to continue moving forward in a resurgent 5-year-old campaign, Quint’s Brew will have to go through a gauntlet of familiar faces in the $200,000 General George Stakes on Saturday at Laurel Park. The gelding has had his fair share of run-ins in the Mid-Atlantic since his 2024 debut, and every rival on the block seems ready to collect.

“It’s a very tough field, not a slam dunk by any means,” trainer Ned Allard said. “But it’ll all get answered on Saturday.”

Trainer Joe Orseno has done a masterful job managing Rezasrolex, a 5-year-old gelding who brings a nine-race winning streak into Saturday’s five-furlong Turf Dash Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs.

A horse Orseno claimed for $16,000 in December 2023, Rezasrolex has been running in mostly starter allowance or statebred allowance company.

“I equate it to managing Mike Tyson fighting grade-school kids,” Orseno said.

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – The undefeated Little Miss Curlin is coming into the biggest test of her career, Saturday’s Dixie Belle at Oaklawn Park, in peak physical condition.

“She’s got a coat that you can see your face in, in the middle of the winter,” trainer Patrick Devereux Jr. said. “She’s just beautiful.”

Doodah Cartel earned the position of fastest qualifier for Saturday’s $200,000 Los Alamitos Winter Derby at 400 yards after the most improbable of performances in a division of the time trials on Jan. 24.

Doodah Cartel was bumped by rivals on his sides and trailed by more than a length after the first 100 yards. When he seemed beaten, Doodah Cartel unleashed a late rally that carried him to an unlikely nose win in 19.89 seconds for 400 yards.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Shred the Gnar is the least experienced member in a very talented field of older fillies and mares scheduled to square off Saturday in the $175,000 Royal Delta Stakes at Gulfstream Park. But she appears to be the fastest, and as such is likely to go postward the favorite in the Grade 3 fixture to be decided at 1 1/16 miles on the main track.