HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Strong Mandate put in his major work for the Arkansas Derby on Tuesday morning, when he went five furlongs in 1:00.80 under regular exercise rider Alberto Rodriguez. He drilled in the second set after the renovation break, with Oaklawn head clocker Hamilton catching the horse through an opening eighth of a mile in 11.80 seconds, a first quarter in 23.40, and three furlongs in 35.80.

Strong Mandate was joined in the stretch by a stablemate, and the pair worked on to the wire while finishing on even terms.

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Dick Wheeler, who worked as a racing official for 42 years, retired on Sunday from the Santa Anita racing office.

Wheeler, 67, held a variety of positions in recent years, including assistant racing secretary at Santa Anita and Hollywood Park and racing secretary at Fairplex Park.

Wheeler has had a 50-year involvement in the sport. At 16, he went to work on the backstretch for trainers Charlie Comiskey and later Jerry Fanning. After a stint in the Army in Germany, where he served as an M.P., Wheeler returned to work in Southern California racing in 1972.

When Big Tire starts in Saturday’s $1 million Santa Anita Derby, the colt will be trainer Mark Glatt’s second runner in a seven-figure race.

Back in 2006, New Joysey Jeff finished 12th behind Lawyer Ron in the $1 million Arkansas Derby at Oaklawn Park.

“It’s only fun if you do halfway decent,” Glatt said. “Otherwise, it doesn’t mean diddly.”

[ROAD TO THE KENTUCKY DERBY: Prep races, point standings, replays]

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – The seemingly never-ending New York winter was testing, to say the least. Many mornings – or afternoons – were not fit for man nor beast.

But through the snow, the ice, and the bitter cold, Uncle Sigh has endured and emerged as a legitimate Kentucky Derby candidate. Gutty runner-up finishes to Samraat over Aqueduct’s inner track in the Withers and Gotham – with the worst of the trips in both races – have Uncle Sigh one solid effort away from making it to Churchill Downs.

ARCADIA, Calif. – Champion 2-year-old filly She’s a Tiger will race outside California for the first time when she makes her 2014 debut in a seven-furlong sprint for 3-year-old fillies at Churchill Downs on Kentucky Oaks Day, May 2.

Trainer Jeff Bonde said Tuesday he will target the $150,000 Eight Belles on the Oaks undercard for She’s a Tiger, disqualified from victory in her most recent start Nov. 2 in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies at Santa Anita, where she has been training regularly the past month.

Trainers at Golden Gate Fields are plotting a course for the Grade 3 San Francisco Mile scheduled for April 26, and a one-mile open allowance race on turf this Saturday may prove to be a perfect prep run.

Before that, however, another solid prep for the San Francisco Mile took place on the main track last Sunday, with Pepnic edging Hudson Landing by three-quarters of a length in a $62,500 optional claimer. The top two finishers raced for a tag, and Pepnic was claimed by Tim McCanna for David Taylor.

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - Nothing says Oaklawn Park’s annual Racing Festival of the South is right around the corner more than a champion putting in a major work, and that was the case Tuesday when Will Take Charge drilled for the Grade 2, $600,000 Oaklawn Handicap.

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Wise Dan had the final breeze before his return to action next week, going five furlongs early Tuesday in 1:00.60 over the Polytrack surface at his Keeneland home base.

The work was the sixth for the reigning two-time Horse of the Year since he had his customary winter break. Trainer Charlie LoPresti confirmed afterward that he intends to run the 7-year-old Wise Dan in the Grade 1 Maker’s 46 Mile on April 11 on the Keeneland turf.

Saddling four winners on a card is big enough, but it made for an even more significant day for trainer Robertino Diodoro at Turf Paradise on Monday, as he notched his 1,000th career Thoroughbred training win.

Diodoro, 40, entered Monday three wins shy of the plateau. He wasted no time as he won the opener with Meter Me Gone ($5.40). He only waited a couple of hours to hit the mark, winning the fifth with Yes It’s Snowing ($4) and then notching win No. 1,000 with Tribaltique ($4) in race 6.

He wasn't done. He won the nightcap (race 8) with Choo Choo Charlie ($7.20).