CYPRESS, Calif. -Soul Driver, the winner of two turf stakes for 3-year-olds last summer, was euthanized early Friday because of complications of colic, co-owner Jeff Bloom said.

Soul Driver finished third in the $102,070 Thunder Road Stakes on turf at Sana Anita on April 9. Following that race, Soul Driver underwent surgery for a non-displaced condylar fracture, Bloom said.

The surgery was a success, but Soul Driver was found to be suffering from colic early Friday and was taken to nearby Chino Valley Equine Hospital.

Leading rider Russell Baze is expected to be sidelined three to four weeks after sustaining a broken right collarbone in a Saturday spill at Golden Gate Fields, according to his agent Ray Harris.

Baze was well on his way to his 54^th riding title at Golden Gate Fields. He has won 95 races at the current meet and leads second-place rider Juan Hernandez by 29 winners.

This article was posted Friday evening and updated Saturday afternoon.

Facing a 270-day suspension for clenbuterol positives at Parx Racing, trainer Ramon Preciado has decided to challenge the rulings against him rather than turn in his trainer's license as he had considered earlier in the week, according to Thomas Pfender, Preciado's Philadelphia-based attorney

Preciado had six clenbuterol positives during 2015 – two in February at Parx, two in late summer at Delaware Park, and two in the fall at Parx.

The Maryland Jockey Club opened its fourth offtrack betting parlor Wednesday in Boonsboro.

The OTB is on the second floor of the G Boone’s Events Center, which has five bars, a restaurant, and a 718-seat arena. Boonsboro is approximately 65 miles northwest of Baltimore. It is eight miles from Hagerstown and 14 miles from Frederick.

The Boonsboro OTB is expected to handle about $3.5 million during its first year, according to Sal Sinatra, president of the Maryland Jockey Club.

Monmouth Park has put new health protocols in place for horses shipping in.

The new rules state that horses must be vaccinated for the equine herpesvirus at least seven days and not more than 90 days before arriving. Horses also must have a health certificate issued within 72 hours of reaching the track.

The Monmouth Park backstretch opens April 23, and the track opens for training April 25. The race meet begins May 14.

As of Friday, a field of nine was expected for next Saturday’s Grade 2, $1.25 million Charles Town Classic, according to Erich Zimny, the track’s vice president of racing operations.

The favorites in the three-turn, 1 1/8-mile race figure to be Donworth, who is coming out of a troubled trip in the Santa Anita Handicap for trainer Doug O’Neill; Page McKenney, who has won five of his last six starts for Pimlico-based Mary Eppler; and Stanford, who finished second, beaten a head by his Todd Pletcher-trained stablemate Blofeld, in the Grade 2 Gulfstream Park Handicap.

Favorite Tale, who established himself as one of the top sprinters in the country last year by winning the Grade 2 Smile Sprint at Gulfstream Park and finishing third in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint from post 14, has had a chip removed from his right knee, according to trainer Lupe Preciado.

Favorite Tale, a 5-year-old gelding by Tale of the Cat, weakened to finish third in his seasonal debut March 21 at Parx Racing in a no-conditions allowance race.

“After his last race, he was uncomfortable in his right knee,” Preciado said.

CYPRESS, Calif. – California Chrome is nearly two weeks into his Kentucky vacation and is not expected to return to trainer Art Sherman’s stable at Los Alamitos until early May.

Sherman is already planning for California Chrome’s return and is developing a tentative itinerary for the 5-year-old’s summer racing season.

The $1 million Pacific Classic at Del Mar on Aug. 20 is the main goal, and possible prep races include the $250,000 Eddie Read Stakes at 1 1/8 miles on turf there July 17 or the $200,000 San Diego Handicap at 1 1/16 miles on the main track there July 23.

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Mike Maker, the trainer of the winner of Turfway Park’s major Kentucky Derby prep, has been handed a 40-day suspension by Kentucky stewards for a drug positive after a race at Turfway in January, a penalty that Maker said he plans to appeal.

A Maryland bill that would direct $500,000 a year to the purse of a new grass race at Laurel and Pimlico and establish a $500,000 bonus program for Maryland-bred horses running in the Preakness was passed unanimously in the state’s House on Wednesday and will be sent to Gov. Larry Hogan for his signature.