HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – A sensational card is shaping up for next Saturday at Gulfstream Park, where the Grade 2, $400,000 Fountain of Youth Stakes will take center stage among nine graded stakes.

Dennis’ Moment figures as a solid favorite when making his eagerly awaited 3-year-old debut in the 1 1/16-mile Fountain of Youth, which is worth 85 qualifying points (50-20-10-5) toward the May 2 Kentucky Derby. He’s one of a handful of confirmed starters for the race, while the connections of several more are seriously considering it, according to Gulfstream racing officials.

Trainer Brendan Walsh, who once worked in Dubai, won the $2.5 million United Arab Emirates Derby last spring with Plus Que Parfait, and Walsh would like to have another horse for this year’s Dubai World Cup undercard on March 28 at Meydan Racecourse. Whether he does or not is in the hands of the official handicapper in Dubai, who will determine the rating for Chaos Theory, who most recently finished a tough-luck second to Just Might in the Colonel Power Stakes on Feb. 15 at Fair Grounds.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. - The New York Racing Association has created a four-person Safety and Integrity Team dedicated to enhancing existing safety protocols at its three tracks, Aqueduct, Belmont Park, and Saratoga.

Tim Kelly and Juan Dominguez have been made safety stewards, joining Hugh Gallagher, who has been a safety steward here since 2014, and Jean Claude Jaramillo, who holds the title of NYRA’s Equine Investigator Specialist.

Exaulted, the runner-up to Nadal in a maiden special weight sprint last month at Santa Anita, has been entered in the $100,000 Mine That Bird Derby on Sunday at Sunland Park. Mike Smith has been named to ride by trainer Peter Eurton.

The Mine That Bird Derby, at a mile and a sixteenth, is the final local prep for next month’s Grade 3, $700,000 Sunland Derby.

Exaulted earned a Beyer Figure of 90 for his debut effort against Nadal, who has since won the Grade 2 San Vicente at Santa Anita.

The $75,000 Houston Turf Stakes on Saturday night at Sam Houston Race Park had the potential to be a showdown between the two most recent Texas-bred horses of the year – Direct Dial and Mr Money Bags – but that will not happen after trainer Mike Neatherlin said Wednesday that Mr Money Bags will be scratched. The horse would have been favored off a recent Sam Houston stakes win for which he earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 100.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Max Player, the Grade 3 Withers Stakes winner and a member of Daily Racing Form’s Derby Watch, returned to the work tab Wednesday morning, breezing five furlongs in 1:03.75 over the Belmont Park training track.

Max Player, a son of Honor Code trained by Linda Rice for owner George Hall, is pointing to the Grade 2, $750,000 Wood Memorial on April 4.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – A hearing to determine whether the New York State Gaming Commission will take action against trainer Linda Rice for “corrupt and improper acts in relation to racing” has been postponed for a second time. The new dates are March 24 and 26, and April 14-15.

The hearings had originally been scheduled for December and then were rescheduled for next Tuesday and Wednesday and March 3-4.

A spokesman for the gaming commission said the new dates were “upon agreement of the parties.”

Like Willie Nelson, Bill Mott just can’t wait to get on the road again. The Derby road, that is.

Mott is the defending training champ for the Kentucky Derby, winning it last year when his colt Country House was placed first following the disqualification of Maximum Security. Mott last Saturday put himself in position to get back to this year’s Derby when Modernist scored an upset victory in the second division of the 1 1/8-mile Risen Star Stakes at Fair Grounds.

Jockey Jose Ortiz will have the mount on Serengeti Empress in the Grade 2, $350,000 Azeri on March 14 at Oaklawn, trainer Tom Amoss said Wednesday. Ortiz was aboard the filly for her win in last year’s Kentucky Oaks. 

“As a team they’ve done very well together,” said Amoss. 

Serengeti Empress, who races for Joel Politi, has been training for the Azeri at Fair Grounds and will likely ship to Oaklawn about a week out from the race, said Amoss. 

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Concrete Rose, a standout 3-year-old turf filly of 2019, had her first work since being sidelined last summer when going three furlongs in 36.80 seconds Monday over the Palm Meadows turf.

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