LEXINGTON, Ky. – Keeneland Racecourse will make its tailgating amenities available on Sundays for the first time during this year’s spring meet starting April 7, the track said Thursday.

The tailgating area, known as the Hill, has become immensely popular over the past decade. Amenities, which included a jumbotron showing live races, a covered bank of live tellers and self-service machines, and food trucks, were previously only made available on Fridays and Saturdays. Keeneland also provides shuttles from the Hill to the racetrack gates.

Sun Thunder, fourth behind leading 3-year-old Arabian Knight facing other winners for the first time in the Southwest Stakes at Oaklawn, will be one of at least three horses that trainer Ken McPeek intends to run on the Feb. 18 card at Fair Grounds.   

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Gun Pilot is being considered for a Kentucky Derby points race following his Feb. 4 allowance win at Oaklawn Park.  

Trainer Steve Asmussen said Wednesday that the horse is under consideration for the Grade 2, $1 million Rebel on Feb. 25 at Oaklawn.  

None of the projected runners in Saturday’s $100,000 El Camino Real Derby at Golden Gate Fields have a Triple Crown pedigree quite like the unbeaten colt Harcyn.

Owned by Jerry Moss, Harcyn is from the family of half-brothers Giacomo, the winner of the 2005 Kentucky Derby, and Tiago, who won the Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby in 2007 and was seventh behind Street Sense in the Kentucky Derby.

OLDSMAR, Fla. – The Suncoast Stakes was supposed to be one of those nice-and-easy comeback spots for Wonder Wheel.

And then the entries came in.

Julia Shining, a Stonestreet Stables homebred whose promising 2-year-old season ended with a gritty victory in the Grade 2 Demoiselle, will keep Wonder Wheel from being a 1-5 shot when the two meet for the first time Saturday in the $100,000 Suncoast at Tampa Bay Downs.

Though he was a fast, elite 2-year-old last season, Breeders’ Cup Juvenile runner-up Cave Rock is taking his own sweet time at age 3. Cave Rock is the only horse on the Derby Watch list without a race or workout in 2023. Cave Rock is galloping daily at Santa Anita, and trainer Bob Baffert said the colt is nearing his first comeback work.

“I’m not pressing him, I’m not forcing him to do anything,” Baffert said Sunday. “He’s going to start breezing in a couple weeks. There’s nothing set in stone. He’s going to let me know. I did lose two weeks during the rain. That set me back.”

Confirming what seemed all but certain when the colt didn’t post a timed workout last weekend, trainer Brad Cox said Tuesday that Instant Coffee won’t run in the Risen Star Stakes on Feb. 18 at Fair Grounds and will await the $1 million Louisiana Derby on March 25.

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Thomas Shelby is one of three horses New York-based trainer David Jacobson plans to fly to Oaklawn Park for overnight races on Saturday’s card.  

Jacobson said the horses are scheduled to take a FedEx flight to Memphis, Tenn., on Thursday morning, then van about 2 1/2 hours to Oaklawn.  

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Coming off major graded stakes victories on successive weekends in South Florida, Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott will try to expand his reach when he runs Jungfrau in Saturday’s Grade 3, $250,000 Withers Stakes at Aqueduct.

Jungfrau is likely to be the only new entrant to the Withers, a race for 3-year-olds that was originally scheduled for Feb. 4 but was postponed when that day’s card was canceled due to extreme cold.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Among the bigger surprises during training hours here Monday was seeing Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies runner-up and Grade 1 winner Leave No Trace come out on the Tapeta course to breeze a very impressive five furlongs in 59.37 seconds under regular exercise rider Lisa Bartkowski. She completed her final quarter in 23.40 while just cruising throughout before easing up after six furlongs in 1:12.94.