HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – A number of top 3-year-olds were out for serious work last weekend, led by Smile Happy, who went a half-mile in 49 seconds on Saturday at Gulfstream in his first work since a runner-up finish in the Risen Star on Feb. 19. Trainer Kenny McPeek is still choosing between the Florida Derby on April 2 or the Blue Grass on April 9 for the Runhappy colt’s next start.

Also, White Abarrio breezed a half-mile on Sunday in 47 seconds at Gulfstream in his second work since winning the Holy Bull on Feb. 5.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Life Is Good will have his final workout for the Dubai World Cup this weekend before being loaded on an overseas flight Monday for the $12 million race.

ARCADIA, Calif. – Count Again, the winner of the Grade 1 Frank Kilroe Mile at Santa Anita on Saturday, is far removed from a winless campaign in five races in 2021.

ARCADIA, Calif. – The lucrative Santa Anita Handicap program on Saturday was an expensive day for several jockeys who were fined for whip violations.

Victor Espinoza, who rode Express Train to a win in the Grade 1 Santa Anita Handicap, and Ricky Gonzalez, who rode Leggs Galore to a victory in the Grade 2 Buena Vista Stakes, were each fined $1,500 for using the whip more than six times in their respective races.

ARCADIA, Calif. – Flightline, the undefeated 4-year-old colt, has resumed training at Santa Anita after he was briefly sidelined with a strained hock in February.

Flightline was jogged early Sunday for the second consecutive day, and will resume workouts in April, trainer John Sadler said. The Grade 1 Metropolitan Handicap at a mile at Belmont Park on June 11 remains a late spring goal.

For now, Flightline will be eased back into action.

“He’ll jog at least a week,” Sadler said. “It’s routine. It’s the mundane part of getting back to where you were.”

ARCADIA, Calif. – In his 17th start, Express Train won the most prestigious race of his career in Saturday’s Grade 1 Santa Anita Handicap. It was a victory easy to predict.

Express Train was the 11-10 favorite on the strength of consecutive wins in Grade 2 prep races in December and January. When he held off a sustained threat from Louisiana shipper Warrant to win the Big Cap by a head, Express Train showed trainer John Shirreffs that the 5-year-old horse is in peak form.

Classic Causeway is all set for his role as the favorite in the Tampa Bay Derby after having his final prerace breeze Saturday at the Palm Meadows training center on the Atlantic Coast.

Classic Causeway was a dominant winner of the Feb. 12 Sam F. Davis at Tampa Bay Downs. The chestnut colt went five furlongs in 59.80 seconds in preparing for the Grade 2, $350,000 Tampa Bay Derby, to be run Saturday as the annual Festival Day showcase at Tampa in Oldsmar, Fla.

ARCADIA, Calif. - There was a simple reason why Forbidden Kingdom was a comfortable winner from the front in the Grade 2 San Felipe Stakes at 1 1/16 miles at Santa Anita on Saturday in his first start around two turns.

“I cut the brake wires,” trainer Richard Mandella said Sunday.

Owned by the MyRacehorse partnership and Spendthrift Farm, Forbidden Kingdom has led or disputed the pace in each of his races. Mandella said that is unlikely to change anytime soon.

“I think he’ll improve as we go,” Mandella said Sunday. “We don’t want to change too much all at once.

ARCADIA, Calif. - For two guys about to split town, Sunday started as a normal day for jockeys Flavien Prat and Umberto Rispoli.

Both are scheduled to relocate to New York in coming weeks, but were at Santa Anita early Sunday for workouts. After all, there are still mounts to be ridden in coming weeks before departure.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - His one-sided victory in the Grade 3 Holy Bull flattered the previous afternoon by Simplification’s easy win in the Grade 2 Fountain of Youth, White Abarrio got back to serious work Sunday morning at Gulfstream Park, breezing a swift half-mile punctuated by a lengthy gallop out as he stepped up his preparations for the $1 million Florida Derby on April 2.