Pool 4 in the 2023 Kentucky Derby Future Wager closed Sunday evening following the customary three-day run with the mutuel field once again a clear-cut favorite among 40 wagering options.

The field, the 40th or “all others” option, was a 2-1 choice over reigning divisional champion Forte (8-1) and the only filly in the lineup, Hoosier Philly (11-1), following the customary three-day window of betting. Then came Tapit Trice (15-1), Instant Coffee (22-1), Victory Formation (23-1), and Geaux Rocket Ride (25-1). Thirteen of the 39 individual interests closed at 90-1 or higher.

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – The stakes winner Code Five is among a string of six horses trainer Kory Owens has brought to Oaklawn Park.  

Owens said Friday that the group arrived about 10 days ago, and includes a trio of horses bred in Arkansas. The horses came in from Arizona. 

Owens last raced at Oaklawn in 2010, according to statistics from Daily Racing Form. He brought Uh Oh Bango to town, and the horse finished fourth in both the Rebel and Arkansas Derby.  

Big City Lights, a game second in the California Cup Sprint for statebreds at Santa Anita on Jan. 7, is scheduled to undergo exploratory knee surgery on Saturday, trainer Richard Mandella said.

Mandella said on Friday that the operation will determine whether Big City Lights has sustained cartilage damage.

“It doesn’t show much on the X-ray, but we’ll take a look,” he said.

Carlos Barbosa, who began riding in his native Puerto Rico last month, will have his American debut at Golden Gate Fields this weekend.

Barbosa, 18, is booked to ride two races on both Saturday and Sunday. Barbosa won 2 of 14 starts in Puerto Rico from Jan. 1 through last Sunday. He will be represented in this country by Nelson Arroyo.

Arroyo said last week that Barbosa intends to ride at Golden Gate Fields through the winter-spring meeting, which ends on June 11, before possibly relocating to Southern California for the summer.

Santa Anita will race on Friday, Feb. 24, a late addition to the racing schedule following cancellations caused by rain last month.

Santa Anita lost three days of racing (Jan. 1, 14 and 16) in the first half of January because of excessive rain. The track conducted a makeup day on Friday, Jan. 20.

:: Get ready for Santa Anita racing with DRF Past Performances, Picks, and Clocker Reports. 

Fonner Park in Grand Island, Nebraska, which opened its 37-day live meet on Friday, has declined to send its signal to out-of-state sites to avoid regulation by the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority, track officials said Friday.

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Lone Rock, a marathon specialist who has earned more than $1.4 million, is nearing a return to racing. He was given time off after running third in the Birdstone on July 28 at Saratoga. Lone Rock resumed galloping at a training center before coming to trainer Robertino Diodoro at Oaklawn.

“I would say he’s about 30 days away from a race,” Diodoro said. “He had some bottom in him before he came to us. He’s on a steady work schedule now and doing well, seems very happy.”

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Cogburn launched his 4-year-old season with a sharp allowance win Feb. 5 at Oaklawn and is being pointed to the Grade 3, $200,000 Whitmore on March 18 at Oaklawn, trainer Steve Asmussen said.

In his first start since May, Cogburn covered six furlongs in 1:09.87 on Feb. 5 and equaled his best Beyer Speed Figure, a 95.

“Nice horse, nice comeback,” Asmussen said.

Osbourne is another 4-year-old who launched his season with an impressive allowance win at Oaklawn. He will be considered for a start in the Whitmore, trainer Ron Moquett said.

ARCADIA, Calif. – An untimely setback to the improving 3-year-old colt Newgate has knocked the Bob Baffert trainee off the Kentucky Derby trail.

Days after Newgate won the highly rated Grade 3 Robert B. Lewis Stakes on Feb. 4 at Santa Anita, racing manager Tom Ryan announced Friday on Twitter that Newgate has been sidelined with a “minor hock issue.”

Slammed, winner of the Grade 2 TCA Stakes at Keeneland in October, has resumed training at Sunland Park in New Mexico with the expectation she will race in California later this year.

A 5-year-old New Mexico-bred mare, Slammed has not started since she finished last of 12 in the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint at Keeneland on Nov. 5. She set the pace in that seven-furlong race before fading through the stretch.

“She just came back into training,” trainer Todd Fincher said earlier this week. “It’s easy, light training.