LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Bellafina, the top points earner and solid favorite, is scheduled to be sent through her final pre-race work for the Kentucky Oaks on Friday at Santa Anita prior to being flown Monday to Churchill Downs.

Trainer Simon Callaghan, speaking this week from the Ocala sale in Florida, said Bellafina will have a five-furlong solo work with jockey Flavien Prat aboard.

“She’s doing great, and we’re very happy with her,” Callaghan said. “She worked well last week, and we like where she’s at.”

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Bulletin, the speedy colt who won the BC Juvenile Turf Sprint here last fall, will be looking to remain unbeaten when he breaks from the rail as a heavy favorite Saturday night when Churchill Downs opens its spring meet with a 10-race card that starts at 6 p.m. Eastern.

Churchill Downs Weather: Clear Temp: 58 Track: Fast

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – With only eight of the 20 top points earners for this year’s Kentucky Derby on the grounds, things have been relatively quiet the past couple of mornings during the special 15-minute window set aside daily at Churchill Downs for prospective Derby and Kentucky Oaks runners.

ARCADIA, Calif. – The Grade 2 Santa Margarita Stakes on Saturday at Santa Anita looks like a good time to try the longshot Birdie Gold in a lucrative two-turn stakes on dirt.

The $200,000 Santa Margarita Stakes is run at 1 1/8 miles for fillies and mares and has not drawn two of the tougher runners in the division – Secret Spice and Marley’s Freedom, who were first and second in the Grade 1 Beholder Mile on March 30.

ARCADIA, Calif. – As Santa Anita settles into a three-day racing week at least through June 2, the two tracks with summer race meetings in Southern California – Los Alamitos and Del Mar – are planning longer race weeks.

Santa Anita announced last week that it will eliminate five Thursdays starting this week and continuing through the first four Thursdays of May. The meeting concludes June 23, and the status of racing on the Thursdays of June 6, 13, and 20 will be made next month, officials said. There was no racing on Thursday, May 30, on the original schedule.

Trainer Gustavo Delgado wants to run Bodexpress in the Kentucky Derby. So too Kenny McPeek with Signalman. Over there in the corner, that’s Mark Hennig waving his hand, saying he wants in, too, with Bourbon War. Trouble is, with less than a week to go until final entries are taken and posts drawn for the 145th Derby on May 4 at Churchill Downs, they are all on the outside looking in.

WHO’S HOT

The hot-stove debate regards who will be favored in this year’s Kentucky Derby. Mike Watchmaker, Daily Racing Form’s national handicapper, has Game Winner slightly favored at 5-1, but with both Omaha Beach and Roadster right behind at 6-1, the margin obviously is razor thin between those three. Improbable, at 8-1, is the only other horse Watchmaker has in single digits. All four of those runners were based this winter at Santa Anita, and three of the four are trained by Bob Baffert.

The $5,000 claiming race that began Monday’s card at Laurel Park took only a minute and 38 seconds to complete, but jockey Jenn Miller had put in hundreds, if not thousands, of hours preparing for what was undoubtedly the biggest race of her life. And even though she finished second aboard Moneymeister, Miller walked away a huge winner.

When Golden Gate Fields unveiled plans for its Gold Rush Weekend, featuring eight stakes this weekend, it knew it was taking a big gamble.

By putting six stakes races, including the $250,000 Grade 3 San Francisco Mile, all on one day this Saturday instead of spreading them over the calendar, it weighed the option of one big day versus losing opportunities to highlight six separate days with stakes.

The track has lucked out in three ways even before entries were drawn this week.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Serengeti Empress passed two important tests Tuesday morning at Churchill Downs, working a sharp five furlongs in 58.09, then scoping cleanly, once returning to the barn, according to her trainer, Tom Amoss. As a result, she will now definitely be pointed for the Kentucky Oaks on May 3.