HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – As if Untapable’s win in the Grade 1, $600,000 Apple Blossom Handicap on Friday at Oaklawn Park weren’t enough excitement for Winchell Thoroughbreds and trainer Steve Asmussen, the champion became a big sister Saturday.

Fun House, the dam of Untapable, foaled a full sister to the champion at 12:20 a.m. in Lexington, Ky., according to Asmussen. He received a text with a picture of the new Tapit filly from Winchell Thoroughbreds racing and farm manager David Fiske. She sports a beautiful blaze that is somewhat similar to Untapable’s.

ARCADIA, Calif. – Beholder, the two-time champion, will have a campaign of Grade 1 races on opposite coasts for the remainder of the spring after winning her 2015 debut in the $80,500 Santa Lucia Stakes at Santa Anita on Friday.

Trainer Richard Mandella has plans to run Beholder in the $300,000 Vanity Stakes here on May 9 and the $1 million Ogden Phipps Stakes at Belmont Park on June 6.

He described her condition Saturday morning as “dead fit.”

ARCADIA, Calif. – Firing Line, winner of the Sunland Park Derby on March 22, worked five furlongs in 59.20 seconds Saturday at Santa Anita, moving closer to a start in the $2 million Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs on May 2.

Ridden by jockey Gary Stevens, Firing Line worked alone. He was not vigorously ridden by Stevens, who was seeking a one-minute workout at the request of trainer Simon Callaghan.

“He was a little aggressive in the last few days galloping, so I let him do something,” Stevens said.

DELRAY BEACH, Fla. – Trainer Todd Pletcher sent out three of his potential Kentucky Derby starters to work at Palm Beach Downs on Saturday, including Florida Derby winner Materiality, who looked razor-sharp breezing a half-mile in company with Louisiana Derby runner-up Stanford.

Fountain of Youth winner Itsaknockout also breezed four furlongs at the training center earlier in the morning. 

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Via Strata, an eight-length winner of a second-level allowance race at Keeneland on Thursday, could make her next start in the Grade 2, $250,000 Ruffian Handicap at Belmont Park on May 9, trainer Kiaran McLaughlin said Friday.

Via Strata, a daughter or Street Cry owned by Godolphin Racing, is now 3 for 3 in her career. Her first two wins came sprinting over Aqueduct’s inner track. Thursday’s race was at 1 1/16 miles around two turns, and Via Strata earned a career-best 93 Beyer Speed Figure.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – La Verdad, who won the Grade 2 Distaff Handicap and five other races last year, likely will make her 5-year-old debut in next Saturday’s renewal of the $200,000 Distaff, trainer Linda Rice said Friday.

“We are pointing her to the race,” Rice said. “She’s got to get past one more breeze on Monday. If I’m satisfied with the breeze, we could be in the Distaff.”

While the Kentucky Derby points list continues to take shape, so too are horsemen assessing the prospective field for its sister race, the May 1 Kentucky Oaks.

As of Friday, following defections, these are the 14 fillies (in order) atop the points list for the Oaks: Condo Commando, I’m a Chatterbox, Stellar Wind, Birdatthewire, Lovely Maria, Include Betty, Oceanwave, Angela Renee, Sarah Sis, Maybellene, Ekati’s Phaeton, Eskenformoney, Puca, and Shook Up. The first three alternates would be Luminance, Forever Unbridled, and Achiever’s Legacy.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Wicked Strong had his first workout since returning to New York from Florida, breezing five furlongs in 1:01.55 over the Belmont Park training track Thursday. What he is working toward is a question that has yet to be answered.

The two options are the Grade 3, $200,000 Excelsior Stakes at Aqueduct on April 25 or the Grade 3, $150,000 Westchester Stakes at Belmont Park on May 2. The Excelsior this year is run at 1 1/4 miles, lengthened from its usual 1 1/8-mile distance. The Westchester is a one-turn mile.

ARCADIA, Calif. – Ocho Ocho Ocho, third in the Grade 1 Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland on April 4, will have his next start at Churchill Downs on May 2.

A decision on whether Ocho Ocho Ocho starts in the $2 million Kentucky Derby or the $200,000 Pat Day Mile on the undercard will be made at the beginning of that week. The decision depends on how the colt trains and whether he can gain a berth in the Derby, trainer Jim Cassidy said Friday.

“I want to see how he’s doing coming up to it,” Cassidy said.

ARCADIA, Calif. – Rafael Bejarano, the runaway leader in the jockey standings at the Santa Anita winter-spring meeting, has withdrawn an appeal of a three-day suspension, track stewards announced in a ruling on Thursday.

Bejarano, 32, was suspended three days March 22 for his ride aboard Jazzy Josh in the Pasadena Stakes on March 21. Bejarano was cited for failing to maintain a straight course in the stretch. The stewards did not conduct an inquiry, and no rider lodged an objection in that race. Jazzy Josh finished eighth.