Please Explain, an outside contender for the Kentucky Oaks, has been disqualified from her third-place finish in the Grade 3 Honeybee Stakes on March 8 at Oaklawn Park after she tested positive for an excessive level of a regulated corticosteroid, according to Oaklawn stewards.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – A precautionary quarantine remained in place on Barn 10 at Aqueduct on Monday as officials awaited the results on tests conducted on a horse who died in that barn last Thursday.

Initial testing done on the horse, Clawback, indicated the presence of “very low amounts of EHV-1 [equine herpesvirus] in one of his samples,” according to Dr. Anthony Verderosa, the chief examining veterinarian for the New York Racing Association.

GRAND ISLAND, Neb. - Live racing at Fonner Park was called off after the second race on Sunday afternoon because of high winds and dropping temperatures which contributed to poor conditions for riders and horses. The track was listed as muddy to start the program and winds were steady at more than 30 miles per hour with gusts much higher.

BOYNTON BEACH, Fla. - Trainer Kiaran McLaughlin said he probably got his best night’s sleep in two weeks on Saturday, once he learned that Cairo Prince was sitting in the 20th spot on the Kentucky Derby points standings at day’s end, making it likely his horse will have a starting berth in the Derby lineup.

The following morning, a well-rested McLaughlin sent Cairo Prince out for the first of his three scheduled breezes leading up to the Derby, an easy half-mile in 48.77 over a fast track at the Palm Meadows training center here.

Steven Crist, the editor and publisher emeritus of Daily Racing Form, was in stable condition on Saturday and has shown significant signs of improvement, according to family members.

Crist, 57, suffered cardiac arrest last Sunday at his home in Long Island and was admitted to a local hospital in critical condition. He was upgraded to a stable condition after undergoing a successful surgical procedure on Friday, and he spent part of Saturday night watching the replays of the Blue Grass Stakes and Arkansas Derby earlier in the day.

Morning:

* Handicapping notebooks from Byron King at Keeneland, Brad Free at Santa Anita, and Ron Gierkink at Woodbine. Closer looks at the upcoming card, a review of the previous day’s racing, and horses to watch.

* Follow-up stories on Saturday’s Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland and the Arkansas Derby at Oaklawn Park.

12:30 p.m.:

* Sunday’s racing schedule is highlighted by Grade 2 Beaumont at Keeneland, a pair of Grade 3 stakes at Santa Anita – the Santa Barbara and San Simeon – and the Jacques Cartier Stakes at Woodbine.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. -- A precautionary quarantine has been placed on Barn 10 at Aqueduct after a horse that died in that barn last week was found to have the presence of a low amount of EHV-1 (equine herpesvirus) in one of his samples, according to the chief veterinarian for the New York Racing Association.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Grade 1 winner Up With the Birds was named 2013 Canadian Horse of the Year at Friday’s Sovereign Awards ceremony at Woodbine Racetrack.

Up With the Birds defeated Grade 1 winners Forte Dei Marmi and Phil’s Dream as well as Herbie D to earn Horse of the Year honors.
Up With the Birds’s Canadian Horse of the Year victory capped a good night for owner-breeder Sam-Son Farm, which was named outstanding breeder and also saw Up With the Birds earn the 3-year-old male divisional championship.

Shakertown Stakes by Kenny Peck

From a gambling perspective, the Grade 3, $100,000 Shakertown is usually one of America's best turf sprints of the year. The 2014 edition, however, doesn't seem to be all that deep. That, unfortunately, seems to mean that the top contenders hold the advantage.

ARCADIA, Calif. -  Lathrop Hoffman, a Southern California car dealer who owned Thoroughbreds for more than three decades, died in Sierra Madre, Calif., on April 2 of natural causes, according to the Santa Anita publicity department.

Hoffman was 89.