Protocols to protect against the transmission of equine herpesvirus have been put in place at Turfway Park in Florence, Ky., after a horse tested positive at a training center near the track earlier this week, according to the Kentucky state veterinarian.

The training center has been quarantined after a horse there tested positive Tuesday for the neuropathogenic strain of the virus, known as EHV-1. The virus is extremely contagious and can be fatal, and outbreaks within the Thoroughbred racing community are most frequent during the winter months.

Pimlico Race Course will run 16 stakes on the two race cards featuring the $1 million Preakness Stakes and Black-Eyed Susan Stakes this year, the track announced on Thursday, with total purses of $3.25 million.

Ten of the stakes will be run on Preakness Day, May 15, while the other six will be run on May 14, topped by the Grade 2 Black-Eyed Susan. Both stakes races and their complementary race cards were delayed last year due to the coronavirus pandemic and run in early October, without spectators.

Santa Anita could host customers as soon as early April.

Track officials are closely monitoring guidance from state government agencies related to when and how sports events in California can resume on-site audiences. The state’s Major League baseball teams expect to start their seasons on April 1 with a small number of customers in attendance.

Colonial Downs in New Kent, Va., will race on a Monday-through-Wednesday schedule this year with a mid-afternoon first post time in order to exploit a scarcity of simulcast signals at that time and to cooperate with its regional neighbor to the north, Maryland, according to officials of the track.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – A quarantine imposed on two barns Wednesday morning at Gulfstream Park has been lifted, track officials said late Wednesday afternoon. Training and racing will resume as normal on Thursday. 

The quarantine, which came about after a horse was euthanized late Tuesday evening after exhibiting neurological symptoms, resulted in more than a dozen horses being scratched from Wednesday's 10-race card.

Apollitical Patty had a brilliant 2-year-old season in 2020, highlighted by a sharp win against an excellent field in the $1,977,250 Los Alamitos Two Million Futurity in December.

That may have been the prologue. Last Saturday, Apollitical Patty showed she may be better this year, with an easy win by an eye-catching 3 1/2 lengths in the first of three divisions of the $427,500 Los Alamitos Oaks. Not surprisingly, Apollitical Patty set the fastest 400-yard qualifying time of 19.55 seconds for the March 27 final.

The Fair Grounds racing secretary has listed eight 3-year-olds as likely entrants in the March 20 Louisiana Derby, which will be drawn Saturday, March 13. Among those expected to be entered are the first three home from the Risen Star Stakes – Mandaloun, Proxy, and Midnight Bourbon, as well as O Besos, who finished a well-beaten fourth in the Risen Star, his stakes and two-turn debut. Hot Rod Charlie is the major ship-in, coming from California for trainer Doug O’Neill after a close third-place finish in his 3-year-old debut, the Jan. 30 Robert Lewis.

Swiss Skydiver, the champion 3-year-old filly of 2020, will begin her 2021 season in Saturday’s Grade 1 Beholder Mile for fillies and mares against a projected field of eight.

Swiss Skydiver, trained by Ken McPeek for Peter Callahan, has not raced since she finished seventh after a poor start in the Breeders’ Cup Distaff on Nov. 7 at Keeneland. Swiss Skydiver was a five-time stakes winner in 2020, including the Grade 2 Santa Anita Oaks last June and the Preakness in October.

Charlatan, second in the $20 million Saudi Cup on Feb. 20 in Saudi Arabia, has returned to trainer Bob Baffert’s stable at Santa Anita after completing quarantine earlier this month.

Charlatan arrived Saturday and had his first day of minor exercise Tuesday. There was no training of any sort on Wednesday at Santa Anita because of an early morning rain storm.

A 4-year-old colt, Charlatan set the pace in the Saudi Cup at 1 1/8 miles, but could not hold off the stretch run of Mishriff, who won by a length.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Temperatures in the mid-60s on Tuesday in the New York area were not the only sign that spring is around the corner.

On Monday, a couple of 2-year-olds had their first recorded workouts at Belmont Park.

Diva Ready, a 2-year-old filly by More Than Ready, and Speak Unity, a 2-year-old colt by Union Rags, went three furlongs together in 38.22 seconds.

Both 2-year-olds are owned and bred by George Strawbridge and trained by Jonathan Thomas.