HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Tyler Gaffalione got off to a bit of a slow start when finding himself suddenly pitted against many of the best jockeys in the world here this winter. But the young apprentice has shown steady improvement as the meet has progressed, as evidenced by the three victories he posted Thursday at Gulfstream Park.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Trainer Jorge Navarro broke out of a mini-slump Thursday, sending out the winners of both halves of the early daily double at Gulfstream Park, the odds-on Loverbil in the opener and the front-running Wellingtons Appeal over the turf in the second race.

“We needed that,” Navarro said when accepting congratulations for the two wins later in the day.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Racing can be a tough business, full of highs and lows that can strike at any moment. Just ask trainer Bill Kaplan.

On Sunday, Kaplan sent out the steadily improving Celestine to her second straight victory, an impressive 3 1/4-length triumph over odds-on favorite Isabella Sings in the one-mile Sanibel Island Stakes. Less than 72 hours later, Kaplan learned that both Celestine and Ekati’s Phaeton, who upset the Grade 2 Davona Dale Stakes this winter, were being transferred out of his barn and into the care of trainer Bill Mott.

Captain Serious returned from a 75-day layoff with a sharp 4 1/4-length victory in a New York-bred allowance Thursday at Aqueduct.

After dueling with Bass River Road through a hot half-mile in 44.98 seconds, Captain Serious opened up a six-length lead in upper stretch and cruised home.

Captain Serious ran seven furlongs in 1:22.71 and earned a 98 Beyer Speed Figure, equaling his career best.

John Parisella couldn’t stay away.

A leading trainer on the New York Racing Association circuit in the 1980s and ’90s, Parisella retired in the summer of 2013, saddling his last horse June 16 that year. After leaving New York for the last 22 months, Parisella, 70, plans to have 15 horses based at Belmont this spring.

“Can’t get it out of my blood,” Parisella said.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Brian Lynch did quite well last year shipping horses to New York from his Canadian base. From 20 starters, he won five races, including four stakes, and his horses finished in the money 55 percent of the time.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Trainer Bob Baffert did not ship either of his top two Kentucky Derby prospects to New York for Saturday’s Grade 1 Wood Memorial, but he did send the 3-year-old Lord Nelson across the country for Saturday’s Grade 3, $300,000 Bay Shore Stakes at seven furlongs.

Lord Nelson is 3 for 3 in one-turn races, including a neck victory over Texas Red, last year’s Breeders’ Cup Juvenile winner, in the Grade 2 San Vicente. He is winless in a trio of two-turn stakes, most recently a fourth-place finish to the Baffert-trained Dortmund in the Grade 2 San Felipe.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Wonder Gal made an eye-catching debut last summer when she galloped to a 14 1/2-length victory in the Lynbrook Stakes, a six-furlong race at Belmont Park.

Her 3-year-old debut figures to be much more challenging when she returns from a 154-day layoff in the Grade 2, $300,000 Gazelle Stakes at 1 1/8 miles at Aqueduct.

Wonder Gal will face multiple stakes winner Condo Commando and stakes winners Jacaranda, Noble and a Beauty, and Money’soncharlotte as well as Puca and Sweet Corine.

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – It is final auditions for the Kentucky Oaks for the 11 fillies who were entered Wednesday in the Grade 3, $400,000 Fantasy Stakes. Saturday’s 1 1/16-mile race opens the annual Racing Festival of the South at Oaklawn Park, where at least one major stakes is carded on each of the programs making up the final week of the meet. The season wraps April 11.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Todd Pletcher may have lost one top contender for Saturday’s Grade 1 Wood Memorial at Aqueduct when Far From Over got hurt, but he still has another big chance to win the $1 million race with Daredevil.

Daredevil, last year’s Grade 1 Champagne Stakes winner, was one of seven 3-year-olds entered Wednesday for the Wood Memorial, the last of four races for 3-year-olds hosted by Aqueduct on the road to the May 2 Kentucky Derby.