Walkwithapurpose confirmed her status as the top 3-year-old filly on the grounds at Laurel Park by overcoming a bad start to post her fourth straight victory in Saturday’s $75,000 Wide Country Stakes.

Verrazano wowed not only the crowd but his trainer, Todd Pletcher, as well when cruising to as easy-as-can-be 16 1/4-length victory over Eton Blue in Saturday’s fifth race at Gulfstream Park, carded at a mile under first-level optional $75,000 claiming conditions. Verrazano was never asked to run by jockey John Velazquez in what proved to be little more than a paid workout. It was the second one-sided win in as many starts for Verrazano.

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

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Mucho Macho Man, the 2012 Breeders’ Cup Classic runner-up, will not run in the Grade 1 Donn Handicap, trainer Kathy Ritvo confirmed on Saturday.

Mucho Macho Man was eased through the stretch by jockey Mike Smith as the odds-on favorite when making his 2013 debut in the Sunshine Millions Classic two weeks ago. Ritvo said Mucho Macho Man came out of the race with no apparent physical issues and he was able to resume normal training 48 hours later, although he has yet to work since then.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – While it remains to be seen if a true Kentucky Derby contender can emerge from Aqueduct in the winter, it certainly looks like a serious Kentucky Oaks player can.

Princess of Sylmar took another step toward the May 3 Kentucky Oaks with another dominating performance Saturday, taking the $100,000 Busher Stakes by seven lengths at Aqueduct.

Kelli Got Frosty finished second by a half-length over Let Me Entertain U. Kimono and Marcellina d’Oro completed the order of finish.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – In midstretch of Saturday’s $100,000 Correction Stakes at Aqueduct, it certainly looked like heavily favored and multiple stakes winner Nicole H was going to run past the talented but inexperienced Cluster of Stars.

And, according to Toby Sheets, the assistant trainer of Cluster of Stars, that would have been okay.

“If she had run second I still would have been ecstatic,” said Sheets, the assistant to trainer Steve Asmussen.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - “When I started here 20 years ago I was all about a mile and one-half. Now I’m five furlongs in 54. That’s what America has done to me.”

ARCADIA, Calif. – To revive the career of Richard’s Kid, trainer Doug O’Neill will try something next weekend with the 8-year-old multiple stakes winner that has not been done since the summer of 2009 – a start in a turf stakes.

Richard’s Kid is being pointed for Saturday’s $150,000 San Marcos Stakes over 1 1/4 miles on turf at Santa Anita in an attempt to reverse a four-race losing streak. The losses coincide with the time that Paul Boghossian, Dave Kenney, Dan Kramer, Steve Keh, and Mark Verge have owned Richard’s Kid, having purchased him privately last August.

At an age when most mares are finished racing, Broad But Nice is running faster than ever. After two easy wins that produced the two best Beyer Speed Figures of her 30-race career, Broad But Nice will step up substantially in class for the first start of her 7-year-old campaign in Tuesday night’s $30,000 feature at Charles Town.

The 4 1/2-furlong sprint is open to second-level allowance fillies and mares, nonwinners of four lifetime, and $25,000 claimers.

Picking out a yearling at an auction – even with someone as sharp as Hall of Fame trainer Nick Zito as an advisor – is something of a crapshoot. In the short time Richard Pell has been involved owning horses selected and trained by Zito, he has experienced the thrill of rolling a series of sevens that produced a nice profit on a modest investment and the frustration of spilling out snake eyes after risking big bucks.

One of Pell’s less successful buys is Nile Runner, who cost $100,000 as a yearling but won only 1 of 5 starts before he was claimed away for $7,500 last September.

Trainer Al Stall came out of Friday night’s races at Fair Grounds with two 3-year-olds who could start next in Kentucky Derby prep races. Departing ran his record to 2 for 2 by winning an open allowance race by 4 1/4 lengths, while Sunbean captured a Louisiana-bred allowance race by 1 3/4 lengths.