HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Principe Guilherme, who made some noise on the Kentucky Derby trail last year at Fair Grounds when he ran second to Instilled Regard in the Grade 3 Lecomte following an 11-length allowance win in New Orleans, makes his Oaklawn debut Thursday.

Principe Guilherme goes in the eighth race, and optional $50,000 claiming sprint at six furlongs that carries second-level allowance conditions. He is part of a 10-hosre field that includes Curate, who won the first two starts of his career last fall in Kentucky with respective Beyer Speed Figures of 94 and 95.

Bankit, a stakes winner who ran fifth in the Grade 3, $500,000 Southwest last week at Oaklawn, is likely headed to a new venue, trainer Steve Asmussen said.

Bankit had been based in Arkansas and was the favorite for last month’s $150,000 Smarty Jones at Oaklawn. He finished an uncharacteristic sixth one start after a fast-closing second in the $400,000 Springboard Mile at Remington Park. Earlier in his career, Bankit won the $250,000 Sleepy Hollow at Belmont Park.

In the Southwest, Bankit was beaten 5 1/4 lengths after a troubled trip.

Trainer Al Stall held Tom’s d’Etat off the work tab this past weekend, but the horse remains on track to start March 23 in the New Orleans Handicap.

Tom’s d’Etat comfortably won the Tenacious Stakes on Dec. 22 at Fair Grounds, but finished a distant, disappointing ninth making his graded stakes debut in the Pegasus World Cup, perhaps failing to handle a sloppy Gulfstream Park track surface. Tom’s d’Etat worked a half-mile in 48.80 seconds on Feb. 15 at Fair Grounds but has since stuck to gallops rather than timed work.

Adam Beschizza, virtually unknown in the United States 16 months ago, missed winning the 2017-18 Fair Grounds riding title by one win. After posting seven wins during the four-day racing week spanning Feb. 21 through Feb. 24, Beschizza entered Thursday’s races atop the jockey standings with a 61-58 lead over James Graham.

Dream Maker did nothing to quash his connections’ dream of making the Kentucky Derby during a half-mile timed workout Saturday morning at Fair Grounds.

Breezing for the first time since his impressive 3-year-old debut Feb. 9, Dream Maker, working in the company of another horse, was timed in 47.80 seconds, fastest of 111 Fair Grounds drills at the distance that day.

“I loved the way he galloped out,” said David Carroll, Fair Grounds-based assistant to trainer Mark Casse. “He trains like a good horse – gets over the dirt really nice. He hasn’t taken one step backward.”

A fourth horse in the past four days perished at Santa Anita on Monday morning just hours before the track was closed for maintenance, an itinerary that was announced on Sunday and will keep the track closed on Tuesday while an examination of the surface is conducted.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – The paths are slightly different, but trainer John Servis can only hope the result is the same.

Servis won the Kentucky Oaks three years ago with a filly named Cathryn Sophia, using the Davona Dale at Gulfstream Park as a crucial stepping-stone. On Saturday, Servis will unveil his newly minted champion, Jaywalk, for her 3-year-old debut in the one-mile Davona Dale, a Grade 2, $200,000 race that’s a key part of a blockbuster program featuring the Fountain of Youth Stakes.

ARCADIA, Calif. – Gift Box has not raced since winning his California debut in the Grade 2 San Antonio Stakes at 1 1/16 miles at Santa Anita on Dec. 26. A seven-furlong workout in 1:25 on Saturday has left trainer John Sadler confident Gift Box will be ready for the Grade 1 Santa Anita Handicap on March 9.

“He looked fantastic,” Sadler said. “That’s a good work on this track right now.”

Sadler timed Gift Box in a slightly quicker 1:24.80, with a one-mile gallop-out time of 1:38.

ARCADIA, Calif. – Vasilika will run in stakes at a mile on turf in the coming months, with a possible trip to Kentucky in May, after her fifth graded stakes win in six months in Saturday’s Grade 2 Buena Vista Stakes at Santa Anita.

Trainer Jerry Hollendorfer said on Sunday that Vasilika will be pointed for the Grade 2 Royal Heroine Stakes, a $200,000 race for fillies and mares at a mile on turf April 6. The April 6 program is highlighted by the $1 million Santa Anita Derby, a key prep for the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs on May 4.

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – She’s a Julie and Copper Bullet are giving trainer Steve Asmussen every reason to believe they are poised for exciting 4-year-old seasons.

She’s a Julie was a determined winner of the Grade 3, $200,000 Bayakoa Stakes last week at Oaklawn Park, withstanding pace pressure and then pulling away late in her first start against older rivals. For the effort, she earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 92.

“I was very proud of her first race back,” Asmussen said. “If anything, I think it was her strongest race to date.

“She could have a huge year this year.”