LEXINGTON, Ky. – The first two days of the Keeneland spring meet produced plenty of news and adventure, but wait, there’s more. Seven stakes will be run this coming weekend, including a pair of Grade 1 races, a last-gasp Kentucky Derby prep, and the return of the unbeaten filly Lady Eli.

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Mr. Z breezed a half-mile Monday at Oaklawn Park in preparation for a possible start in the Grade 1, $1 million Arkansas Derby. Trainer D. Wayne Lukas said conversations are being held with owner Ahmed Zayat and his family concerning a potential start in Saturday’s race. Entries for the Arkansas Derby will be taken on Wednesday.

“I’m hoping that Mr. Z will let us run Mr. Z,” Lukas said Monday.

ARCADIA, Calif. – Beholder, the two-time champion, will have her first start since September in Friday’s $75,000 Santa Lucia Stakes at Santa Anita.
On Sunday, Beholder was supplemented to the Santa Lucia Stakes for $1,500 by trainer Richard Mandella, the second consecutive year in which he supplemented Beholder to the same restricted stakes for fillies and mares.

ARCADIA, Calif. – Stellar Wind is bound for the $1 million Kentucky Oaks at Churchill Downs on May 1 after her comprehensive win in the $400,500 Santa Anita Oaks on Saturday. She may be the only runner from that field bound for the lucrative race for 3-year-old fillies.

On Sunday, trainer Bob Baffert said the runner-up Luminance will be sent to Churchill Downs, but her participation in the Kentucky Oaks is uncertain.

Stellar Wind is unbeaten in two starts this year and will be a leading contender and possibly the favorite for the Kentucky Oaks, which is run at 1 1/8 miles.

ARCADIA, Calif. – Luminance could run in the Kentucky Oaks or the $200,000 Eight Belles Stakes for 3-year-old fillies at seven furlongs May 1 at Churchill Downs. Luminance had her stakes debut and third career start in the Santa Anita Oaks. She won her first two races – a maiden race at Del Mar last July and an optional claimer at a mile Feb. 28.

“I thought she ran a great race and was second best,” Baffert said. “I’ll take her there and train her. I’m not convinced about the Oaks. I don’t if she has the foundation for that yet.”

ARCADIA, Calif. – The Saturday stakes winners Sheer Pleasure and Spirit of Xian will have local campaigns later this spring.

Sheer Pleasure scored an 8-1 upset in the $201,000 Evening Jewel Stakes for California-bred 3-year-old fillies at 6 1/2 furlongs, closing from 11th of 12 to win by three-quarters of a length.

OLDSMAR, Fla. – Having a day that spotlighted the strong influence of Thoroughbred racing and breeding in the Sunshine State was an ambitious and innovative idea that came to fruition some 13 years ago.

Those who worked together to make the Florida Cup a reality had to be smiling after Florida Cup 13 produced an afternoon of racing that featured a good mix of the old and the new and a healthy competition between the powerful stables from south Florida and the locally based outfits from Tampa Bay Downs and Ocala-area training centers.

ARCADIA, Calif. – Both Dortmund and One Lucky Dane, the top two finishers Saturday in the Santa Anita Derby, came out of the race well, trainer Bob Baffert said Sunday morning, and both are set to move on to the Kentucky Derby on May 2.

Two weeks before last year’s Kentucky Derby, trainer Kiaran McLaughlin had to withdraw Cairo Prince from the race due to an injury. At the time, he called it the “toughest day in my career as a trainer.”

That memory made Frosted’s victory in Saturday’s Grade 1, $1 million Wood Memorial at Aqueduct that much more meaningful as both McLaughlin and Sheikh Mohammed al Maktoum’s Godolphin Racing – which had bought into Cairo Prince early last year – appear headed back to the Kentucky Derby.

ARCADIA, Calif. – American Pharoah turned in another brilliant work Sunday morning at Santa Anita, his final drill in preparation for the Arkansas Derby on Saturday at Oaklawn Park.

He went six furlongs in 1:11.60 with jockey Martin Garcia. Track clocker John Malone had American Pharoah's final quarter-mile in 23.30 seconds. Trainer Bob Baffert had American Pharoah going out seven furlongs in 1:24.80.

American Pharoah worked alone, right after the 9 a.m. renovation break.

"I was just galloping. The horse went good," Garcia reported to Baffert via radio.