NEW ORLEANS – Tom's Ready came out of the Risen Star Stakes in good shape, said trainer Dallas Stewart, who is looking past the colt's seventh-place finish and looking forward to the Louisiana Derby on March 26.

"That's where we're pointing,'' Stewart said, though he mentioned that other options, such as the Spiral Stakes at Turfway Park, the Arkansas Derby at Oaklawn Park, and the Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland, are available.

In the Grade 2 Risen Star on Feb. 20, Tom's Ready had a wide trip and faded in the stretch. He finished 13 lengths behind the winner, Gun Runner.

NEW ORLEANS – The plan forged by veteran trainer Sturges Ducoing and longtime assistant Donald "Pa" Suberville for the gelding Hail to the Nile worked to perfection – and gave Ducoing his first stakes victory since 2012.

"He's a nice horse,'' Ducoing said. "We really thought he'd run good when we came in here. Pa said we'd run him short three times and win the Dixie Poker Ace.''

ARCADIA, Calif. – Santa Anita’s decision to replace its turf course in June, before the end of the spring-summer meeting, drew mixed reactions from a few leading trainers on Thursday.

Some are concerned about the potential for missed racing opportunities this summer, while others say a revamped turf course will be welcome before a Santa Anita autumn meeting highlighted by the Breeders’ Cup races on Nov. 4-5.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Two horses trained by Christophe Clement have been placed in quarantine at Belmont Park and are only allowed to go to the track after the general horse population has trained.

The horses – Width and Renwick – were based at Payson Park and left there by van Sunday, two days prior to the announcement that a case of equine herpesvirus had been discovered at Payson, prompting a 21-day quarantine there.

The horse who tested positive for equine herpesvirus at Payson is not trained by Clement.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Gotham Stakes contender Shagaf wasn’t the only promising 3-year-old whom trainer Chad Brown shipped back to New York from south Florida earlier this week.

Gift Box, who finished third in the Grade 2 Remsen here on Nov. 28, also returned to New York to continue training after suffering a couple of minor setbacks in south Florida. Gift Box worked twice at Palm Meadows but hasn’t worked since Jan. 25.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – The connections of King Kranz were prepared to run him back just one week after he finished last in the Grade 3 Withers Stakes on Jan. 30 at Aqueduct. As it turns out, King Kranz will have had five weeks between starts when he runs in Sunday’s $125,000 Jimmy Winkfield Stakes for 3-year-olds at six furlongs.

A field of seven was entered for the Winkfield, which will go as race 5 on Sunday’s nine-race program at Aqueduct.

A celebration of the life of longtime Maryland horsewoman Gretchen Mobberley will be held Monday at St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church in Glenwood, Md. The noon service will be followed by a reception.

Mobberley, 84, died of cancer Feb. 21. She was preceded in death by her husband, Jack. Together, the Mobberleys developed more than 20 stakes winners at their Summer Hill Farm in Howard County, Md.

Monmouth Park stall applications must be submitted to new racing secretary Mike Anifantis by March 10.

The Monmouth season opens May 14 and continues through September. The Monmouth backstretch is scheduled to open April 23, and stabling will be allowed through Oct. 28.

The Finger Lakes racing season will begin April 16 and span 155 racing days through Nov. 30.

Finger Lakes, which opened in 1962, will race Saturdays and Mondays until Tuesday racing begins April 26. A live card will be held on Kentucky Oaks Day, May 6.

Finger Lakes will begin a five-day-a-week schedule May 9. Racing will be held Mondays through Thursdays and on Saturdays.

A lot of work was done to level the inside base of the Parx racing surface prior to the meet. During opening week, the inner posts fared well going both short and long. Of the 14 sprint races run, posts 1 and 3 each produced four winners. In 12 two-turn races, three winners came from the inside post.

Velazquez nears 1,000 wins

Coming into this week’s races, trainer Alfredo Velazquez is two wins away from 1,000 career victories.