HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – One locally based 3-year-old committed to the May 2 Arkansas Derby at Oaklawn Park is King Guillermo, upset winner of the Tampa Bay Derby on March 7. Trainer Juan Avila said King Guillermo is scheduled to have his first work since that 4 3/4-length victory here Saturday, when he’ll go five furlongs immediately after the renovation break.

WHO’S HOT

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Dale Romans readily admits he’s a creature of habit. And under normal circumstances, his habit at this time of year is to be in his native Kentucky where he’d be racing at Keeneland for the next several weeks while looking forward in a month to attending and possibly competing in another Kentucky Derby.

Instead, Romans finds himself stuck in Florida for the foreseeable future, along with dozens of his training colleagues from up north, not knowing when he’ll be able to leave.

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Oaklawn announced Tuesday its casino will remain closed until April 30. During the same period, the track will continue its policy of racing spectator-free on-site, according to Jennifer Hoyt, spokeswoman for Oaklawn.

Oaklawn is scheduled to race through May 2, which is the new date of the Grade 1, $750,000 Arkansas Derby.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – With the Ontario government extending the Declaration of Provincial Emergency and associated emergency measures due to the coronavirus global pandemic, Woodbine Entertainment announced Tuesday that it remains committed to stabling horses on its backstretch.

The Woodbine meet, which was scheduled to begin April 18, has been postponed with a start date yet to be determined.

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. -- Grade 1 winner Tom’s d’Etat remains on schedule to launch his season April 11 – but the venue has changed.

Trainer Al Stall Jr. said Tuesday that the $150,000 Oaklawn Mile is the new target race for Tom’s d’Etat. The horse had been pointing for the Grade 3 Ben Ali the same day at Keeneland.

However, the spring meet at Keeneland has since been canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic.

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. -- The millionaire Come Dancing got her first real feel for the Oaklawn surface on Tuesday morning, when she worked toward a potential start in the Grade 1, $600,000 Apple Blossom Handicap here April 18.

She also is being considered for the Grade 3, $350,000 Count Fleet Sprint Handicap the same day at Oaklawn, according to her trainer, Carlos Martin.

Come Dancing, who is under the care of trainer D. Wayne Lukas at Oaklawn, breezed first after the break. She went five-eighths by herself in 1:00.60 on a sealed, muddy track.

Arlington won’t begin its 2020 race meeting on May 1, as had been scheduled, and the racing schedule this year remains totally unsettled in the face of the coronavirus pandemic.

Arlington has sent a notice to season boxholders that Arlington won’t race at all during the month of May, and a source reported that an Illinois state government official said Arlington would like, if possible, to race between early July and early September.

Trainer Patrick Biancone said Monday that his Tampa Bay Derby runner-up Sole Volante is still on target for the $750,000 Arkansas Derby on May 2 at Oaklawn Park. Sole Volante, winner of the Grade 3 Sam F. Davis at Tampa earlier this winter, has had just one work since the Tampa Derby, an easy half-mile in 50 seconds on March 15 at Palm Meadows.

“Since we had no intention of running in the Florida Derby, I gave him a little break,” Biancone said. “He’s in good condition, but he’ll be back on the work tab this week with the Arkansas Derby the plan, if the race goes.”

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – The 2019-20 Championship meeting, which ended Sunday, was certainly a bizarre one in many ways. But one bit of normalcy that did return during the winter was seeing Todd Pletcher’s name back atop the trainer standings at the end of the session, a position he had held for 15 consecutive years until relinquishing the title to Jorge Navarro last season.

Pletcher closed the winter meet with 48 victories, seven more than runner-up Mike Maker. Five of Pletcher’s wins came in stakes, including Saturday’s Grade 3 Appleton with Social Paranoia.