LEXINGTON, Ky. – A handful of hopefuls for the Blue Grass Stakes had their final pre-race breezes on a busy Saturday morning at Keeneland, but it was a workout at a quieter venue some 75 miles away in Louisville that leads the pre-race talk for the main Keeneland stepping-stone to the Kentucky Derby.

Burst of Life will be seeking her seventh consecutive win Tuesday, when she makes her stakes debut in the $50,000 Wilma Mankiller at Will Rogers Downs in Claremore, Okla. The six-furlong race for fillies and mares will be her first start since November.

“She always runs really good fresh,” said Francisco Bravo, who trains Burst of Life for his wife, Lori. “Hopefully, she will again, but now we’re stepping up in company. It will be interesting to see what happens.”

My Star Runner will be getting back to dirt, the surface over which he has had the bulk of his success, on Monday, when he runs in the $50,000 Clem McSpadden Memorial Route 66 at Will Rogers Downs in Claremore, Okla.

The Route 66, which is the first stakes of the young meet, is for 3-year-olds and up at six furlongs. It drew a field of seven older runners, including Steal Your Face, winner of the $50,000 Silver Goblin at Remington Park in November, and Wally Van, who won four consecutive stakes last year between July and September.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. -  Calibrachoa, winner of the Grade 3 Tom Fool Handicap in his last start, was scratched out of Saturday’s Grade 1 Carter Handicap at Aqueduct due to a quarter crack in his right front foot, trainer Todd Pletcher said Saturday morning.

His defection reduced the Carter to field to five horses, but only four betting interests as Emcee and Tahitian Warrior will be coupled.

Pletcher said Calibrachoa grabbed a quarter when he stumbled at the start of the Grade 3 Toboggan on Feb. 4, a race he won by 2 1/4 lengths over Aqueduct’s inner track.

OLDSMAR, Fla. – Jockey Scott Spieth notched his 4,000th career win Friday, when he guided Ula to a 5 1/4-length victory over a field of maidens in the seventh race at Tampa Bay Downs.

The win was one of three posted by the 45-year-old Spieth on the Friday program. The veteran, who has been riding since 1986, thanked his fellow riders, the trainers who have supported him throughout his career, and his family, noting that “There is a lot of dedication and loyalty required in this business.”

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - Horse of the Year Havre de Grace breezed a leisurely five furlongs in 1:02.20 on Saturday morning at Oaklawn Park in preparation for a possible start in next Friday’s Grade 1, $500,000 Apple Blossom Handicap.

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - Good Deed looks like a filly with a bright future after she turned in a powerful, 4 3/4-length win over Painted Woman in the $75,000 Prima Donna for 3-year-old fillies at Oaklawn Park on Friday. It was another 1 1/4 lengths back in third to Always Here Too.

Good Deed ($12) raced with the pace from the start, dueling between rivals through fractions of 21.96 seconds for the opening quarter and 44.97 for the half-mile. Good Deed came into the stretch on top, and finished with authority while pulling clear. She covered the six furlongs on a fast track in 1:09.66.

LEXINGTON, Ky. - Silver Max never looked back in easily dominating the 24th running of the Grade 3, $100,000 Transylvania Stakes on a sun-splashed opening day of the Keeneland spring meet.

With Robby Albarado aboard, Silver Max led every step of the 1 1/16-mile turf race, winning by 5 1/2 lengths for his first stakes triumph in nine career starts. A Badge of Silver colt, Silver Max returned $8.60 as third choice in a field of six 3-year-olds, finishing in 1:41.81 over a firm course and giving his co-owner, Mark Bacon, his first stakes win.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Gypsy Ring didn't win like a 1-5 shot, but he did get the job done over a modest field of Ontario-sired runners in Friday's $100,000 Debut Stakes, the opening-day feature at Woodbine.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. - When Classic R and B won a nose decision over Goodtime Boy in Friday’s fifth race at Aqueduct, it marked the first win on turf for trainer Gary Gullo in nearly 10 years.

Since Takeiteasyedye won a $35,000 claiming racing at Saratoga on July 27, 2002, Gullo had gone winless with his last 102 starters on the turf.

“I felt like I won the Kentucky Derby,” Gullo said.

It took the photo finish camera to separate Classic R and B from Goodtime Boy. Until the number was posted, Gullo thought he lost the race.