OZONE PARK, N.Y. – It will be 119 days between starts for Brooklyn Strong when he makes his 3-year-old debut in Saturday’s Grade 2, $750,000 Wood Memorial at Aqueduct, but his trainer, Danny Velazquez, couldn’t be more confident in his gelding’s chances for success.

“In my head, I’m going in for the kill, I’m not even thinking of losing,” Velazquez said by phone from Parx Racing where he is based. “I’m very confident, extremely confident in my horse. I see him doing everything I want him to do.”

ARCADIA, Calif. – Parnelli will have new rider and new equipment as he tries to reverse his recent form when he starts as a longshot in the Grade 1, $750,000 Runhappy Santa Anita Derby on Saturday.

Parnelli worked five furlongs on Monday morning at Santa Anita in a sharp 59.40 seconds under Edwin Maldonado, who will ride Parnelli for the first time in the Santa Anita Derby. Parnelli has been working in blinkers in his recent drills and will race in them for the first time Saturday.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Honor Way ended her 6-year-old season in career-best form with stakes wins in the Pumpkin Pie and Garland of Roses.

After suffering a bruised foot while training toward the Interborough in January, trainer Charlton Baker opted to give her the winter off.

Friday, Honor Way will make her 7-year-old debut in the Grade 3, $150,000 Distaff Handicap. Honor Way drew the rail in a field of five that includes Paris Lights, who is making her first start since winning the Grade 1 Coaching Club American Oaks last July at Saratoga.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Coming off two impressive wins versus New York-breds, Nicky the Vest was going to be an intriguing player in Saturday’s Grade 2, $750,000 Wood Memorial at Aqueduct.

But trainer Jonathan Thomas was not happy with the colt’s last workout over the weekend and confirmed Monday that Nicky the Vest will skip the Wood.

Nicky the Vest worked a half-mile in 48.42 seconds over Belmont’s training track, but his gallop-out of 1:02.56 was “subpar” according to Thomas, who added that Nicky the Vest “left some feed” Saturday night.

ARCADIA, Calif. – Jockey Jose Valdivia Jr. equaled his best day of the winter-spring meeting on Saturday, winning two races on a card for the first time in two months.

Valdivia won the first race on Mind Meld ($7.60) and the fourth on Love My Jimmy ($9.80).

“It’s nice when they run like that,” Valdivia said Sunday morning. “Fast horses make everyone look good.”

ARCADIA, Calif. – Art Sherman, who trained two-time Horse of the Year California Chrome, has been suspended 15 days and fined $1,500 after one of his starters at Los Alamitos last December tested positive for a metabolite of the prohibited medication pyrilamine, an antihistamine.

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ARCADIA, Calif. – Loose on the lead, Going to Vegas proved impossible to catch in Saturday’s Grade 3 Santa Ana Stakes for fillies and mares on turf at Santa Anita. The victory gave trainer Richard Baltas a record fourth consecutive win in the Santa Ana, which was first held in 1968. Baltas won the Santa Ana from 2017-2019. The race was not run in 2020 because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The late Hall of Fame trainer Bobby Frankel won the Santa Ana eight times, but never more than twice in succession.

ARCADIA, Calif. - Of the 10 candidates for Saturday’s Grade 1 Runhappy Santa Anita Derby, Medina Spirit has had the best year, winning the Grade 3 Robert Lewis Stakes and chasing Life Is Good in two other graded stakes.

With Life Is Good sidelined with injury, Medina Spirit has inherited the role of favorite for the $750,000 Santa Anita Derby at 1 1/8 miles. Bob Baffert trains both colts.

“He got the closest to Life Is Good,” Baffert said of Medina Spirit. “That’s something.

“He tries hard. He’s a fighter. He’s got a lot of heart.”

ARCADIA, Calif. - Fans will return to Santa Anita beginning Friday for the first time in more than a year, with the track mandating customers purchase admission tickets in advance and follow familiar social distancing protocols.

Tickets are available for $10 or $20 in groups of two, four or six, and include mandatory seating available in sections such as the grandstand, trackside picnic tables, or the turf terrace restaurant in the clubhouse.

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - The Racing Festival of the South at Oaklawn Park is fast approaching, with horses such as champion Whitmore gearing up for the meet’s richest run of stakes offerings.