HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Sonneteer, the Southern California-based maiden who crashed the Rebel Stakes exacta when he finished second in the Grade 2, $900,000 race at 112-1, is coming back to Oaklawn.

“All is on schedule to return for the Arkansas Derby,” trainer Keith Desormeaux said Friday.

Desormeaux said after the Rebel that he had a few options to discuss with Calumet Farm concerning Sonneteer, ranging from training up to the Kentucky Derby to targeting an additional prep in the Santa Anita Derby, the Blue Grass at Keeneland, or the Arkansas Derby.

INDIANTOWN, Fla. – At the end of the Gulfstream Park winter meet, Rodolphe Brisset typically leaves south Florida for Kentucky to help trainer Bill Mott set up for the Keeneland spring meet. When Brisset left south Florida on Thursday to head to Kentucky, he did so with a different agenda.

Instead of setting up shop for Mott, Brisset is setting things up for himself; he has left Mott’s employ to go out on his own. Brisset, 33, said it is something he began planning last August, with the idea of making the move this spring.

NEW ORLEANS – The diversity of the Steve Asmussen stable is remarkable. From elite stakes performers (Gun Runner might be the second-best dirt horse in the world right now) to bottom-level maidens, Asmussen covers all categories at tracks where he runs strings. His client base is broad – and includes himself.

Asmussen regularly claims low- and mid-level claimers to run in his colors and regularly does well with them. Take the 5-year-old Louisiana-bred Grit.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – The multiple-Grade 1-winning and ultra-popular mare Lady Eli will make her 5-year-old debut in the Grade 1, $350,000 Jenny Wiley at Keeneland on April 15, trainer Chad Brown confirmed Friday.

Brown had been considering waiting until the Grade 3, $150,000 Beaugay at Belmont Park on May 14 for Lady Eli’s return but said the mare is training too well to keep her in the barn.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Oscar Performance and New Money Honey, the winners of the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf and Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf last fall, are both headed to Keeneland to kick off their 3-year-old campaigns.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – When Luis Saez guided Sistine Sista to victory in Thursday’s final race here, it was his 100th win of the Gulfstream Park winter season, making him just the third rider in track history to reach that plateau for a meet.

ARCADIA, Calif. – Iliad finished a lot better in a team workout Friday than he finished his most recent race, a distant second in the San Felipe Stakes that suggested he could be vulnerable when he starts favored in the Santa Anita Derby on April 8.

But skeptical analysis of Iliad may require revision after a sharp seven-furlong workout Friday at Santa Anita. Trainer Doug O’Neill worked Iliad in company after the 9 a.m. renovation break.

ARCADIA, Calif. – Stellar Wind, the champion 3-year-old filly of 2015, worked seven furlongs in 1:27 at Santa Anita on Friday while preparing for the Grade 1 Apple Blossom Stakes at Oaklawn Park on April 14.

“I had her in 1:26,” trainer John Sadler said. “She broke two lengths behind Pappou, and she finished four or five lengths in front of him.

“She wasn’t tired. She galloped a mile in about 1:40. She’ll come back next Friday and probably work five-eighths.”

Keeneland racing officials expect a field of at least seven 3-year-olds for the Blue Grass Stakes, the annual spring showcase that will anchor an action-packed opening weekend at the Lexington, Ky., track.

The biggest name is McCraken, who is scheduled to breeze again Sunday or Monday at Keeneland in his last serious preparation for the Grade 2, $1 million Blue Grass on Saturday. The Whitham Thoroughbreds homebred already has breezed twice over the track since trainer Ian Wilkes sent him north from his winter base in south Florida.

ARCADIA, Calif. – The win by Lady Espionage in a maiden race on turf at Santa Anita on Thursday was one for the family – and former family.

Lady Espionage is trained by Michele Dollase and was ridden by her ex-husband, Corey Nakatani. Their son Matt, 25, is Corey’s agent and booked the mount.

“He’s the mediator,” Michele Dollase said.