Ag Bullet, a stakes winner unbeaten in two starts this year, was held out of Saturday’s $100,000 China Doll Stakes at Santa Anita in favor of the $300,000 Bourbonette Stakes at Turfway Park on March 25.

Trained by George Papaprodromou for Calvin Nguyen and Joey Tran, Ag Bullet will have her first start on a synthetic track in the Bourbonette. The race is for 3-year-old fillies at 1 1/16 miles.

Papaprodromou said the result of the Bourbonette will determine whether Ag Bullet is considered for the Grade 1 Kentucky Oaks at Churchill Downs on May 5.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. - For 17 days last August, Maple Leaf Mel distinguished herself as the top New York-bred 2-year-old filly in training.

Then she was gone.

Seven months later, Maple Leaf Mel is nearing her return to the races, which is expected to come in the $100,000 East View Stakes at Aqueduct on March 24. The East View, restricted to New York-bred fillies, is run at six furlongs.

Assiniboia Downs has announced a shipping incentive program for the 2023 Thoroughbred meet.

A one-time credit per horse will be automatically deposited into the owner’s account after the horse has started once at the meet.

The rewards range from $250 to $1,000 and depend on where the horse shipped from. Horses originating from Zone 4, which includes Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, New York, and Florida, qualify for the $1,000 bonus. Zone 3 horses from Illinois and Minnesota receive $500.

Horsemen, backstretch workers, business leaders, organized labor, and about a dozen or so members of the New York state legislature attended a 30-minute rally Monday at the State Capitol in Albany to support a budget proposal to grant the New York Racing Association a $455 million loan to redevelop Belmont Park.