HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Oaklawn Park reached the halfway point of its meet Saturday, and an agreeable stretch of weather, record purses, and frantic claiming have been the hallmarks of the season that will continue through Arkansas Derby Day on April 16. The track also has put up strong handle and attendance numbers, while field size is averaging 9.82 runners a race.

OLDSMAR, Fla. – Jockey Antonio Gallardo is well on his way to breaking his own record for wins at a Tampa Bay Downs meet, with 92 victories from 343 mounts (27 percent) through Sunday. Gallardo’s mounts have earned $1.25 million at the meet, well ahead of Daniel Centeno, who ranks second in both mount earnings ($815,660) and wins (51). Gallardo’s mounts have finished in the money 55 percent of the time at the meet.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – When it comes to his 3-year-old Sunny Ridge, trainer Jason Servis doesn’t feel the need for speed.

OLDSMAR, Fla. – Trainer Dale Romans is hoping that Grade 1 winner Brody’s Cause can follow in the footsteps of Street Sense, who used the Tampa Bay Derby and Blue Grass Stakes to propel him to a victory in the 2007 Kentucky Derby for trainer Carl Nafzger.

BOYNTON BEACH, Fla. – The undefeated Lady Eli breezed Monday for the first time since being sidelined with laminitis shortly after her win in the Grade 1 Belmont Oaks Invitational on July 4.

Daily Racing Form caught her working three furlongs at Palm Meadows in 39 seconds, with her first furlong in 13 seconds. She galloped out four furlongs in 52.20.

“She looked great, did it really well,” trainer Chad Brown said. “She switched leads perfectly, galloped out well, and cooled out nicely after the work.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Trainer Todd Pletcher found himself a new Kentucky Derby prospect on Sunday while also picking up a potential major contender for the Kentucky Oaks.

Pletcher sent out Azar to register a three-quarter-length decision over Kelly’s Touch in a 1 1/16-mile optional-claiming race on the main track Sunday. The outing was the first on dirt for Azar, a son of Scat Daddy who was a Grade 2 winner on grass at 2 last year.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Add Fellowship’s name to the shortlist of likely starters in the Florida Derby.

Trainer Stanley Gold said Monday that the steadily improving Fellowship came out of his third-place finish in the Fountain of Youth Stakes on Saturday in good order, and that if all continues to go well, he will take on Mohaymen for a third time April 2 in the $1 million Florida Derby.

“I thought he ran well,” said Gold, who trains Fellowship for owner and breeder Fred Brei’s Jacks or Better Farm. “It was what we expected. I knew he’d run late.”

ARCADIA, Calif. – Trainer Jerry Hollendorfer missed his favorite filly last November.

After Songbird won the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies at Keeneland in October, she was turned out for a month at a Kentucky farm. Hollendorfer recalled last weekend being as much relieved as excited when she returned to his stable in Southern California in early December.

“Any trainer, you hate to turn them loose for a minute,” he said. “I was a little anxious when she was out for a month.”

ARCADIA, Calif. - Prospect Park, the winner of the Grade 3 La Jolla Handicap on turf at Del Mar last August, will miss the $1 million Santa Anita Handicap on March 12 with a leg injury.

Trainer Clifford Sise said on Sunday that Prospect Park has “a little fracture in a hock.”

The 4-year-old Prospect Park will be sent to owners Pam and Marty Wygod’s farm in Santa Ynez, Calif. for a three-month recovery. The injury will not require surgery, Sise said.

ARCADIA, Calif. - Songbird and Mor Spirit, two of the best 3-year-olds in California, worked at Santa Anita on Sunday for races in coming weeks.

Songbird, the undefeated champion 2-year-old filly of 2015, breezed a half-mile in 48 seconds under jockey Mike Smith. Songbird will be a heavy favorite in Saturday’s $100,000 Santa Ysabel Stakes for 3-year-old fillies at 1 1/16 miles.