HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Gold Medal Dancer, the winner of the Grade 2, $294,000 Azeri in her last start March 14, had a significant work at Oaklawn on Saturday, breezing five furlongs by herself in a bullet 59.20 seconds. She has emerged from the work in good order and remains under consideration for the Grade 1, $600,000 Apple Blossom Handicap at Oaklawn on April 10, according to trainer Donnie Von Hemel.

“She’ll most likely run in the Apple Blossom, but we’ll see what the noms are, what the weights are,” Von Hemel said Monday.

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Trainer Bret Calhoun could have the favorites in two of the three undercard stakes supporting the Arkansas Derby. He said Promise Me Silver, who is undefeated in six starts, is being pointed for the $100,000 Instant Racing for 3-year-old fillies at six furlongs. She will be seeking her sixth career stakes win.

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Bridget’s Big Luvy will take up the chase for some Kentucky Derby eligibility points later this month when he starts in the Grade 1, $1 million Arkansas Derby. The horse earned a shot at the April 11 race at Oaklawn Park with a convincing win in the $100,000 Private Terms on March 21 at Laurel. There were a couple of reasons why the Arkansas Derby was targeted for the Belmont Park-based Bridget’s Big Luvy, trainer Jeremiah Englehart said Tuesday.

LEXINGTON, Ky. – The Keeneland spring meet figures to get away quicker than a Wesley Ward 2-year-old, with a revamped schedule that’s more front-loaded than ever before.

By Tuesday afternoon, entries already were drawn for the first two days of the 15-day meet, with 10 races carded for Friday and a blockbuster 11-race program set for Saturday. The Saturday card will include five graded stakes, anchored by the Grade 1 Blue Grass Stakes, which Keeneland racing officials are hoping to restore to its former glory with a new date and a higher purse.

ARCADIA, Calif. – A program to financially reward owners and trainers for bringing race-ready horses to Del Mar expands to the entire Southern California circuit on Thursday.

Known as “Ship and Win,” the program has two levels of incentives – a 30 percent purse bonus in a horse’s first start in an overnight race and a $1,000 appearance fee for a horse’s first start in Southern California. Horses are eligible if they have not raced in California in the last year and are not first-time starters. The incentives will be available at Del Mar, Los Alamitos, and Santa Anita.

ARCADIA, Calif. – Shared Belief, unbeaten in two major stakes this year, worked six furlongs in 1:14.20 at Golden Gate Fields on Tuesday in preparation for the $1.5 million Charles Town Classic in West Virginia on April 18.

Shared Belief worked in company with a stablemate, trainer Jerry Hollendorfer said. The champion 2-year-old male of 2013, Shared Belief won the Grade 2 San Antonio Stakes at Santa Anita on Feb. 7 and the Grade 1 Santa Anita Handicap on March 7.

ARCADIA, Calif. – Days before the biggest race of his career, Bolo had the fastest half-mile workout of his career at Santa Anita on Tuesday. Bolo worked four furlongs in 46.80 seconds, his final major exercise before Saturday’s $1 million Santa Anita Derby.

“I was looking for something a little slower, but the track is fast this morning,” trainer Carla Gaines said.

Bolo has had 24 works since he began serious training last August, and five have been at a half-mile. Bolo has won 2 of 4 starts and earned $129,700 for Golden Pegasus Racing.

ARCADIA, Calif. – Warren’s Veneda, the top female in California, will stay home for her next start, though trainer Craig Lewis will keep travel options open for her. The romping winner March 14 of the Grade 1 Santa Margarita, Warren’s Veneda worked a half-mile Tuesday at Santa Anita, after which Lewis said the Grade 1 Vanity here May 9 was next.

Laurel Park concluded its winter meet, which ran from Jan. 1 to March 29, with a 14.6 percent gain in average daily handle.

Laurel averaged $1.76 million a day this year, up from $1.5 million in 2014. Handle on Laurel’s simulcast signal rose 20 percent, from $1.18 million a day last year to $1.42 million at this meet.

Despite 10 live race days lost to weather and the Mid-Atlantic simulcast dispute, which restricted the Laurel signal from going to some sites, total handle was down only 5.4 percent, from $79.8 million to $75.5 million.

The opening of Pimlico Race Course on Thursday, following seven months at Laurel Park, means spring is in the air – if not completely here yet – and that the $1.5 million Preakness Stakes is not far off.