HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Oaklawn Park will open its meet Friday with more Grade 1 winners stabled on the grounds than has been the norm so early in the season. There are at least four such runners calling Hot Springs home for the winter: The Big Beast, Don’t Tell Sophia, Moonshine Mullin, and Take Charge Brandi.

Live racing at Aqueduct Wednesday was canceled due to the cold. It is the first cancellation of the winter meet.

Both Aqueduct and Belmont were to be open for simulcasting.

After about an inch of snow fell here Tuesday, temperatures took a nosedive Wednesday into the low 20s. With winds forecast to be 20 to 30 mph and occasional gusts over 40 mph, wind chills were expected in the single digits.

It’s beginning to look a lot like Oaklawn.

Oaklawn Park, the Hot Springs, Ark., track that has turned out a number of top-class 3-year-olds over the last decade, took entries for its Friday opener Tuesday. It was a frigid morning, with training delayed about 2 1/2 hours until 9:30. However, the forecast that seemed threatening earlier this week has improved, and Oaklawn officials are looking forward to the nine-race card, led by the $100,000 Dixie Belle.

Delaunay started his 8-year-old season the same way he ended his 7-year-old campaign, with an impressive stakes win at Fair Grounds.

Last Saturday, in an off-the-turf edition of the Bonapaw, Delaunay ran down the fast sprinter Heitai over 5 1/2 furlongs to win by a neck. Usually on the lead in his best races, Delaunay chased and chased and finally caught Heitai.

“He was definitely trying hard to catch that horse, and that’s not him,” trainer Tom Amoss said. “He wins his races on the lead.”

Trainer Larry Jones sent out a noteworthy 3-year-old maiden winner at Fair Grounds on Sunday, when Exodus won a six-furlong maiden race by more than eight lengths despite being eased up the final half-furlong. He was timed in 1:10.08, which produced a 91 Beyer Speed Figure.

Exodus, by Medaglia d’Oro and out of the mare Stop Traffic, is owned by Rick Porter’s Fox Hill Farms. He was third when debuting at Keeneland’s fall meet and then finished a distant third with trouble when heavily favored Nov. 23 at Fair Grounds.

Untapable and Tapiture, the big, established older horses in the Steve Asmussen barn, are galloping along toward their 2015 debuts, and his 3-year-old stakes prospects are starting to take shape.

ARCADIA, Calif. – Del Mar continues its progress toward the installation of a dirt main track, president Joe Harper said Sunday.

Harper said the Polytrack synthetic surface should be fully removed by early February, with the installation of the new dirt surface set to be completed by April. The new track will be used for the first time for training in advance of the Barretts May sale of 2-year-olds on May 27. A training preview of sale horses is scheduled for May 25. Barretts will not conduct sales at its Pomona location after February.

ARCADIA, Calif. – Harlington’s Rose, the winner of the Kalookan Queen Stakes on Dec. 28, is likely to start in the $200,000 Santa Monica Stakes for fillies and mares over seven furlongs Jan. 19, trainer Steve Knapp said.

Knapp said an alternative is the $150,000 Sunshine Millions Filly and Mare Turf Sprint on the hillside turf course Jan. 24.

“We’ll look at the Santa Monica, and if it’s not too tough, we’ll run there,” Knapp said. “I’d prefer to keep her on the dirt. My filly is sharp now.”

ARCADIA, Calif. – Former South American runners will have a strong influence on the $200,000 San Pasqual Stakes on Saturday.

As of Tuesday, four of the 10 probable starters began their careers in Argentina, Brazil, or Chile – Baccelo, Big Cazanova, Bronzo, and Salto Del Indio. All have raced in the United States since at least last summer.

ARCADIA, Calif. – Shortly after the start of the Gold Rush Stakes at Golden Gate Fields on Dec. 6, luck deserted Unblunted, the even-money favorite.

He was five wide on the first turn of the one-mile race for 2-year-olds and raced off the rail throughout, finishing fifth, 3 1/2 lengths behind race winner Stand and Salute.

“Nothing unfolded properly for the horse,” trainer Michael McCarthy recalled Tuesday.