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HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – There will be little secret when it comes to Saturday’s $150,000 Inside Information Stakes at Gulfstream Park. They’re going to have to catch Hilda’s Passion.

Key’s Band has won multiple stakes in his career, and not all of them have been restricted to Thoroughbreds. He has defeated Quarter Horses more than once at 870-yards, and his brand of speed should serve him well Saturday when he defends his title in the $100,000 Mt. Cristo Rey Handicap at 4 1/2 furlongs at Sunland Park.

A full field of 10 has been entered, including Daddy O., who has won his last six races in a streak that began in December 2008.

PHOENIX – The question for both the $25,000 Tempe Handicap and $25,000 Scottsdale Handicap at Turf Paradise on Saturday is the same: Can the favorites handle turf?

The two fixtures, both for 3-year-olds, represent a first crack at grass for the main protagonists. The Tempe Handicap, for 3-year-olds, is at a mile on the turf, drew a field of 12, and goes as race 8. The Scottsdale is also at a mile on the turf, but is for 3-year-old fillies, and lured eight as race 5.

OLDSMAR, Fla. – Teaks North roared from off the pace to get up in the final strides of the Grade 1 Gulfstream Park Turf Handicap for a stunning upset in his 2011 debut. He drops to Grade 3 competition for Saturday’s $125,000 Tampa Bay Stakes but is far from a shoo-in as he faces an overflow field of diverse turf runners in the 1 1/16-mile stakes.

Teaks North won four of eight starts last year as a 3-year-old, including the $100,000 Restoriation Stakes on the turf at Monmouth and the $70,000 Big Brown at a mile and a sixteenth over the main track at the same oval.

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - Blind Luck, The Factor and Sway Away all rolled through the Oaklawn Park backstretch around 5:15 p.m. Central on Wednesday, in town for stakes races on Saturday. The horses flew in from Southern California along with Grade 1 winner Smiling Tiger, who is being pointed for the Grade 3, $200,000 Count Fleet Sprint Handicap at Oaklawn on April 14, said his trainer, Jeff Bonde.

Trainer Allen Jerkens sent out Precious Soul to an impressive debut win here at Gulfstream Park last Sunday and is hopeful the 3-year-old daughter of Distorted Humor could turn out to be stakes caliber, just like her older sister Society Selection.

Saturday’s card at Gulfstream Park will also feature the much-anticipated return of Cal Nation, who registered a spectacular 7 3/4-length victory in his career debut on Feb. 5 for trainer Todd Pletcher. Cal Nation, a WinStar Farm homebred, will stretch from seven furlongs to a mile for his second start and takes on more experienced and stakes-tested rivals such as Bowman’s Causeway and I’m Steppin’ It Up.

Trainer Nick Zito said his top Kentucky Derby prospect Dialed In will have his final major work for the Grade 1 Florida Derby sometime next week. Dialed In won the Grade  3 Holy Bull in his 3-year-old debut before finishing second behind his older stablemate Equestrio when sent nine furlongs for the first time earlier this month.

KENTUCKY DERBY NEWS: Track all the 3-year-olds on the Triple Crown trail

Ravi’s Song has run well enough in two races this winter at Fair Grounds to have won a graded stakes. In her next start, she figures to get a chance to actually do so.

Mike Stidham-trained horses are possible runners in major upcoming graded stakes races, including Willcox Inn, who finished second last Saturday in the Grindstone Stakes, his first race since a third-place finish last fall in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf.

Willcox Inn closed well through the stretch, unable to catch Great Mills, who coasted through soft splits on an uncontested lead.
“Considering everything, short of him winning, I was very pleased,” Stidham said. “I knew going in the seven and a half [furlongs] was far shorter than his best distance.”