Kentucky Downs officials on Wednesday released the stakes schedule for its abbreviated meet in September, when purses for five days of racing could average nearly $1.7 million per card – tops in North America – when supplementary funds for Kentucky-bred horses are included.

Two stakes at turf-only Kentucky Downs were granted Grade 3 status over the winter: the $400,000 Kentucky Downs Turf Sprint and the $350,000 Kentucky Downs Ladies Turf. They join the only race previously graded at the south-central Kentucky track, the Grade 3, $600,000 Kentucky Downs Turf Cup.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Trainer Jorge Navarro is about ready to welcome Grade 2 winner Sharp Azteca back to his barn to begin preparations for the Grade 1 Metropolitan Mile this spring at Belmont Park.

Sharp Azteca is coming off a somewhat disappointing third-place finish in the Godolphin Mile at Meydan, where he was beaten a length by Second Summer after holding the lead until deep stretch. Sharp Azteca has spent the last several weeks at his owner’s farm in Ocala, Fla., since returning to the U.S.

Trainer Chad Brown on Monday said he is “leaning towards passing” the Kentucky Derby with Cloud Computing, a decision that has implications regarding the potential field for the May 6 Derby at Churchill Downs.

Cloud Computing currently sits 20th on the Derby points list, pending a decision by the connections of Conquest Mo Money as to whether to supplement for $200,000 and run.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Trainer Tom Bush lost a talented 3-year-old turf filly when Grade 3 Florida Oaks winner Fifty Five was sold privately and transferred to trainer Chad Brown.

He may have found a replacement in Dance Queen, who made it 2 for 2 with a hard-fought nose victory in a first-level allowance at Aqueduct last Thursday.

She had a much smoother trip in the race than she had in getting to New York for the race.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Trainer Michael Dini, who wintered at Tampa Bay Downs and summers at Delaware Park, will have runners for each of the two turf stakes that highlight closing weekend of the Aqueduct spring meet.

In Saturday’s $100,000 Woodhaven Stakes for 3-year-olds, Dini will send out Bird’s Eye View. In Sunday’s $100,000 Memories of Silver Stakes for 3-year-old fillies, Dini will saddle Dynatail.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Having won three races for 2-year-olds at Keeneland so far this spring, trainer Wesley Ward now has his sights set on New York, which runs its first juvenile races of the year this week at Aqueduct.

On Wednesday, Ward has two of the six entrants in a 4 1/2-furlong race for 2-year-old fillies. On Thursday, Ward sends out Magnanimus Man in a 4 1/2-furlong race for 2-year-old males.

The field for the Grade 2 Charles Town Classic was still coming together Monday, with nine likely starters, but owner Ron Paolucci’s plans are set. He is going to run Imperative, War Story, and Cautious Giant.

This will be Imperative’s fourth straight appearance in the Classic. He scored a 26-1 upset in 2014 over Game On Dude and Moreno. He was second to Moreno in 2015 and finished fourth behind Stanford last year.

Lone Star Park near Dallas opens its 20th season Thursday night with the $50,000 Premiere Stakes. It is carded as the first race of the meet, as has been the tradition since I Are Sharp won the inaugural running on April 17, 1997.

Lone Star will race 50 dates through July 30. The meet will pay tribute to its history with several key events. One of its biggest races, the Grade 3, $200,000 Texas Mile on May 7, has been renamed the Steve Sexton Mile in honor of a central member of the track’s original management team who died in December.

LEXINGTON, Ky. – The front-loaded spring meet has left the Keeneland stakes cupboard relatively bare. Thirteen stakes were run during the first seven days of the meet, but just three will be held over the ensuing eight days: the Grade 3 Doubledogdare on Friday, the Grade 2 Elkhorn on Saturday, and the Grade 3 Bewitch on closing day, April 28.

Unbridled Mo, trained by Todd Pletcher, is among the fillies and mares listed as likely for the 1 1/16-mile Doubledogdare, for which entries were to be drawn Tuesday.

LEXINGTON, Ky. – After Lady Aurelia prevailed Saturday in the Giant’s Causeway Stakes, she had racing historians wondering about the last time a 3-year-old had defeated older rivals so early in the year in a North American stakes of consequence.

“The only time I know of was when we won the Giant’s Causeway with Holiday Kitten [in 2011],” said Wesley Ward, who trains Lady Aurelia for Stonestreet Stables and partners. “You don’t see it happen because people usually don’t want to try it.”