HOT SPRINGS, Ark.- Oaklawn Park has canceled Friday’s nine-race program due to freezing temperatures. It’s the third consecutive weather-related cancellation of the meet.

Oaklawn lost six races to heavy rains on Sunday, then was forced to cancel its entire program Thursday due to a winter blast. The cancellations were the first of the meet, which opened on Jan. 10. 

The forecast for Saturday and Sunday looks promising, with temperatures expected to be in the mid-40s.

Oaklawn on Friday will remain open for simulcasting and gaming.

The mutuel field was an overwhelming favorite after the first of three days of wagering into Pool 2 of the Kentucky Derby Future Wager, which opened Thursday at noon Eastern. As of Friday morning, and with $62,082 in the win pool, the field – the 24th or “all others” option – was the 3-5 favorite, followed by Shared Belief (15-1), Cairo Prince (18-1), Honor Code (19-1), Top Billing (22-1), Commissioner (24-1), and Strong Mandate (27-1).

ROSLYN, N.Y. - A state task force assigned to examine health and safety issues for New York jockeys discussed focusing more on how to assist riders who are injured and/or disabled as opposed to simply providing blanket health insurance coverage, a topic that has created tension within certain factions of the industry.

The mutuel field opened as a strong favorite in the early hours of Pool 2 of the Kentucky Derby Future Wager, which opened Thursday at noon Eastern.

As of 4:45 p.m., and with just more than $30,000 in the win pool, the field – the 24th or “all others” option – was the even-money favorite, followed by Shared Belief (14-1), Strong Mandate (15-1), Honor Code (15-1), Cairo Prince (16-1), and Top Billing (17-1). Another $6,325 was in the exacta pool.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Will Take Charge was assigned post 2 as part of an outstanding field of 11 older horses Sunday in the 59th running of the Grade 1, $500,000 Donn Handicap at Gulfstream Park.

The 1 1/8-mile Donn marks the first start for Will Take Charge since he ended his 3-year-old season with a dramatic victory over Game On Dude in the Nov. 29 Clark Handicap at Churchill Downs, a Grade 1 race that clinched the colt the Eclipse Award for top 3-year-old of 2013.

[bc_video_id:315751:]ARCADIA, Calif. – Mike Smith walked off the track at Churchill Downs on Nov. 29 upset with himself over the results of the Grade 1 Clark Handicap.

Smith rode Game On Dude, who finished second by a head to Will Take Charge, the eventual 3-year-old champion male. Game On Dude led by 2 1/2 lengths in the stretch and was caught near the wire. Smith blamed himself.

“I think I moved too soon,” he said last week.

[Robert B. Lewis Stakes: Get PPs, watch Saturday's card live]

OCEANPORT, N.J. – The Grade 1, $1 million Haskell Invitational again tops the stakes schedule this summer at Monmouth Park.

The 3-year-old stakes on July 27 headlines the 17 graded events worth a combined $3.55 million.

The $500,000 United Nations Stakes on the turf, the meet’s other Grade 1 contest, shifts to a Sunday, July 6. The U.N. and the supporting feature, the Grade 3, $150,000 Salvator Mile, will be televised on Fox Sports 1 as part of the Jockey Club Tour on Fox series of races.

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - Oaklawn Park has canceled Thursday's card due to freezing temperatures. The decision comes on the heels of the track losing its final six races Sunday because of winter weather. It was 20 degrees in Hot Springs Thursday morning, with the high expected to be 28.

Oaklawn track maintenance crews worked the surface overnight Wednesday and will continue to do so in an attempt to keep the track viable for the weekend, when temperatures are expected to hit the 40s.

Si Robertson, a cast member of the popular A&E program Duck Dynasty, has entered into a racing partnership with established owner Wesley Melcher. The pair, along with Ashley Howard Nelson, sister of Duck Dynasty cast member Korie Robertson, now own a 2-year-old filly bred in Louisiana, which is home base for Duck Dynasty.

General Challenge, a three-time Grade 1 winner who earned nearly $2.9 million on the racetrack, was euthanized at Golden Eagle Farm in Ramona, Calif., on Tuesday. He was 18. The news was reported on Golden Eagle’s Facebook page, in a post that said the gelding’s health had deteriorated rapidly in the previous week.