HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Jockey Alex Cintron’s decision to test the waters at Oaklawn Park has resulted in the best meet of his young career. He is tied for sixth in the current standings, and on Friday has capable mounts in both allowance features at the track. Cintron will ride Iowa Breeders’ Derby winner One Hundred Proof in the eighth for trainer Kelly Von Hemel, and leading contender Big Tall Paul in the ninth for one of his strongest patrons, trainer Cody Autrey.

ARCADIA, Calif. – Drill, the winner of two graded stakes for sprinters but winless in four races around two turns, is bound for the $750,000 Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland on April 14, trainer Bob Baffert said on Wednesday.

The winner of the Grade 2 San Vicente Stakes over seven furlongs at Santa Anita on Feb. 19, Drill will start in the longest race of his career in the Grade 1 Blue Grass, which is run over 1 1/8 miles and is a key prep for the Kentucky Derby on May 5.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Jockey Ramon Dominguez will likely miss only two weeks of riding and is expected back in time to ride Hansen in the $1 million Wood Memorial at Aqueduct on April 7.

Dominguez, the two-time Eclipse Award winning rider, suffered a separation of his collarbone after being involved in a spill Sunday at Aqueduct. Dominguez had an MRI performed on Tuesday in Manhattan and Dr. Stephen O’Brien, an orthopedic surgeon for the Hospital of Special Services, told Dominguez he may only have to miss a week.

ARCADIA, Calif. – Tones scored a 13-1 upset in the Baffle Stakes on the hillside turf course at Santa Anita in late February, a victory that may lead to an adventuresome 2012 campaign.

If Tones wins Friday’s $70,000 Pasadena Stakes for 3-year-olds over a mile on turf, he could start in the $200,000 American Turf Stakes at Churchill Downs on May 4.

“The guys that own this horse are game, and they would be looking around the country,” trainer Doug O’Neill said. “We were pumped about his [last] performance.”

Here's my race-by-race rundown of Friday's pick four at Aqueduct on March 23, 2012. I'm building my wager with TicketMaker, found exclusively on DRF.com, using $0.50 incremental bets per race on a $100 budget.

Fair Grounds runs the occasional 14-horse race, but only on the main track and only at six furlongs. Fourteen will run in the richest race on the Friday program at the New Orleans track, a $41,000 first-level allowance for Louisiana-bred 3-year-olds, giving the race plenty of allure to bettors.

Doug O’Neill already has a leading candidate for the May 5 Kentucky Derby in I’ll Have Another, winner of the Grade 2 Robert Lewis Stakes last month at Santa Anita. But it never hurts a trainer to have a little backup.

Arlington Park on Tuesday released an overnight stakes schedule for its 2012 race meet consisting of 11 races worth a total of $725,000.

Recent seasons have seen the virtual elimination of overnight stakes from the Arlington meet, but the release of millions of dollars of casino impact fees to the state’s racing industry has boosted purse accounts enough that Arlington can offer a fairly comprehensive program this season.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Philippe was on the fringes against stakes company at 3 but his trainer, James Baker, is hoping 2012 will be a breakout season for the homebred, beginning with Friday’s second-level optional $62,500 claiming feature at Gulfstream Park.

As a 3-year-old, Philippe finished a close second in a pair of overnight stakes at Turfway Park and Oaklawn Park early last season but saved his best for last when he checked home second, a head in front of his more accomplished stablemate Will’s Wildcat, in Turfway’s Grade 3 Kentucky Cup Sprint.

Add Alpha’s name to the list of probable Louisiana Derby starters. Alpha, winner of the Withers Stakes at Aqueduct in his most recent start, had been under consideration for both the Wood Memorial and the Florida Derby in recent weeks, but now seems likely to ship to New Orleans from Florida next week.

“The chances are very good that we’re coming that way,” trainer Kiaran McLaughlin told the Fair Grounds publicity department.