LEXINGTON, Ky. - The post draw Wednesday morning for the 88th running of the Toyota Blue Grass Stakes went very smoothly, with virtually all of the connections of the 13 runners being interviewed before the breakfast crowd by host Tom Leach. Among the more interesting comments were those by Barry Irwin, the Team Valor International president being represented in the 1 1/8-mile Polytrack race by Howe Great, a winner of his last four starts.

“I wouldn’t say I’m confident,” said Irwin. “I think Hansen is the best horse in the crop. I don’t think we can beat him, to tell the truth.”

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Cindy Jones is recuperating in a Hot Springs, Ark., hotel after suffering multiple injuries when working with a yearling last weekend on the seven-acre farm that she and her husband, trainer Larry Jones, own near Oaklawn Park.

Defending champion Duke of Mischief heads a full field of 10 older horses – all of them graded stakes winners – entered on Wednesday for the $1 million Charles Town Classic.

The 1 1/8-mile Classic, elevated to Grade 2 status, is part of a blockbuster card on Saturday night that includes five other stakes and the finals of the inaugural Charles Town Starter Tournament. As race 12 on a special 13-race program that begins two hours earlier than usual at 5 p.m. Eastern, the Classic is scheduled for 10:30 p.m.

ARCADIA, Calif. – Jockey Tyler Baze, who has not ridden since August because of a suspension for failing to take a Breathalyzer test, is scheduled to meet with Los Alamitos stewards this weekend in an effort to gain reinstatement this month.

The rider said in a phone interview on Wednesday that he is “definitely” ready to return to riding.

Baze is hoping to gain an immediate reinstatement to resume exercising horses, and hopes to be riding races by the opening weekend of the Hollywood Park spring-summer meeting that begins on April 26.

LEXINGTON, Ky. – You know that Get Stormy is good enough to win the Maker’s 46 Mile. After all, he won it last spring, when the Grade 1 turf race was still known as the Maker’s Mark Mile. Moreover, trainer Tom Bush said recently that he believes the now-6-year-old horse is “as good as he has ever been.”

You also suspect that Turallure is good enough to win the Maker’s 46 Mile, given the spectacular way the gray horse closed out his 2011 season, capturing the Grade 1 Woodbine Mile before getting beat a whisker in the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Mile.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – A diverse group of older runners entered Friday’s $75,000 Three Coins Up overnight stakes at Aqueduct, scheduled for 1 1/16 miles on turf, and the field remained in flux as of Wednesday afternoon.

Among seven ostensibly in for turf are the Kiaran McLaughlin-trained entrymates Mahubo and Redding Colliery. Redding Colliery, however, was also entered in Saturday’s Charles Town Classic and is likelier to run in that three-turn race.

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Havre de Grace’s owner, Rick Porter, paid Kentucky Oaks heroine Plum Pretty a high compliment last week when he cited giving her six pounds as one of the main reasons his Horse of the Year would pass on Friday’s Grade 1, $500,000 Apple Blossom Handicap at Oaklawn Park.

AUBURN, Wash. – Emerald Downs begins its 17th season Friday evening with an eight-race card that begins at 6 p.m. The timing is not ideal – the suburban Seattle track is going head-to-head with the Mariners, who will play their home opener Friday night at Safeco Field. But with warm weather, cold beer, fast horses, and a big-screen TV giveaway on Emerald’s menu, those who flock to the track are apt to find the races more entertaining than any ball game.

ARCADIA, Calif. – Island Paradise can show if she has progressed from her 2-year-old campaign when she makes her 2012 debut in a first-level optional $80,000 claimer over a mile on turf at Santa Anita on Friday.

Trained by Paddy Gallagher for Harlequin Ranches, Island Paradise is unraced since finishing third in the Grade 3 Miesque Stakes at Hollywood Park last November, her American debut.

Gallagher said that Island Paradise emerged from the Miesque Stakes with an illness.

“She spiked a fever after that race,” he said. “It took her a while to get over.”

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Heavenly Pride isn’t the best horse in Friday’s Woodbine headliner, but the fact that she has a recent race under her girth counts for something, and she should be a factor in the second-level allowance, with a $62,500-claiming option.

Heavenly Pride took 2 of 10 starts last year, including a first-level allowance race here on Polytrack. One of her better performances was a fifth-place finish in the open Duchess Stakes.