Two of the leading trainers during the winter at Aqueduct and Gulfstream Park plan to have stables for the first time at Delaware Park this season.

Peter Walder, fourth in the current Gulfstream trainer standings, and David Jacobson, who finished fifth during the recently concluded inner-track meet in New York, intend to race locally based horses when Delaware launches its 136-day meet on April 19.

Walder, 39, will have about 40 horses on the grounds. Jacobson, 54, intends to have about 15 horses at Delaware while keeping the remainder of his string in New York.

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - Kettleoneup's late run would be best suited by a strong pace Saturday when she makes her Grade 1 debut in the $500,000 Apple Blossom Handicap at Oaklawn Park. But it is questionable whether she will get the fractions she needs.

LEXINGTON, Ky. - Good thing the racing will be far better than the weather. Opening day at Keeneland is supposed to bring rain, wind, and cold in a metaphorical opposite to the sunny days that lay ahead on the Kentucky racing circuit.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. - While Todd Pletcher kept his better 3-year-olds in south Florida and Southern California this winter, it may turn out that the horse who takes him back to the Kentucky Derby was sitting chilly in New York.

LEXINGTON, Ky. - Racing often is characterized by highs and lows, by slumps and resurgences. Julien Leparoux would scarcely know any of this, having experienced almost nothing but phenomenal success since embarking on his North American riding career some 2 1/2 years ago, but a subpar last few months have him feeling he may have something to prove at Keeneland.

Bitterbutsweet couldn't handle Cave Springs when they met in a turf allowance race here March 17, but she got her revenge when it counted, capturing Monday's $30,700 Scottsdale Handicap.

The landscape of racing in Nebraska is facing a major change in the coming years, as the land at State Fair Park in Lincoln moved closer to being turned over to the University of Nebraska for development as an innovation and technology park.

Buoyed by the $100,000 sale-topping colt by three-time top Louisiana sire Leestown, the John Franks Memorial 2-year-olds in training sale on Sunday at Evangeline Downs posted healthy increases across the board. The average price on the 192 juveniles who passed through the ring increased 16 percent, to $10,619, from last year, while total proceeds increased nearly 4 percent to $1,826,000, up from $1,757,000 in 2007.

Last weekend was a big one for the connections of 7-year-old Catlaunch, who won as Handicap Horse of the Year at the Ohio Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders banquet at Darby Dan Farm in Galloway, Ohio, on Friday night.

In the sixth race on Saturday, a six-furlong optional claiming race, Catlaunch had a successful return to the races after a layoff. Catlaunch last ran Nov. 17 of last year, in the Kirchberg at Beulah, winning by three lengths in the 1 1/8-mile event. Trained by Ivan Vazquez, Catlaunch is headed to the Babst/Palacios at Beulah on closing day, May 3.

Student Council, the winner of last year's Grade 1 Pacific Classic, will make a rare appearance on turf Saturday night when he starts as the 120-pound highweight in the Grade 3, $200,000 Connally Breeders' Cup Turf Handicap at Sam Houston Race Park.

The Connally is one of three turf stakes that will close out the meet. The $50,000, five-furlong Turf Sprint drew Golden Hare, a winner of his last seven starts, and the multiple stakes-winning mare Smitty's Sunshine. The $50,000 Jersey Lily is for fillies and mares at 1 1/16 miles on turf, and the field of 12 is led by New Edition.