ARCADIA, Calif. – When Danzing Candy drew away from eight rivals to win a first-level optional $80,000 claimer at a mile at Santa Anita on Thursday, trainer Cliff Sise took a moment to admire the performance.

“He’s got the stride of a good horse,” Sise said.

Danzing Candy’s record matches Sise’s belief. Danzing Candy has won 2 of 3 starts and is unbeaten at the current meeting. Owned by Ted Aroney’s Halo Farms and Diane and Jim Bashor, Danzing Candy beat maidens in a seven-furlong race Dec. 26, the opening day of the winter-spring meeting.

When Nyquist capped an unbeaten 2-year-old season Oct. 31 by winning the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile at Keeneland, the widespread consensus was that he capitalized throughout the year by defeating a slow group. And there was evidence supporting this view: He never posted a Beyer Speed Figure higher than an 89, and his time in the 1 1/16-mile Juvenile was more than a second slower than Songbird needed to win the Juvenile Fillies.

ARCADIA, Calif. – Proven distance form will meet keen sprint speed when Mor Spirit, considered one of California’s leading candidates for the Kentucky Derby, takes on I Will Score as seven 3-year-olds try to keep their Derby dreams alive Saturday in the Grade 3, $150,000 Robert B. Lewis Stakes over 1 1/16 miles at Santa Anita.

Dolphus, who was scratched at the gate of the Lecomte after acting up and briefly getting loose, returned to action Sunday with a three-quarter-length win in a first-level, two-turn allowance at Fair Grounds. Dolphus closed into a slow pace and beat a seemingly decent Larry Jones-trained colt named Jensen. The race produced a 77 Beyer, but there was no way the final time was going to be fast after a slow half-mile split.

Greenpointcrusader, who finished second to Mohaymen in the Holy Bull Stakes last Saturday at Gulfstream Park, will have just one more race prior to the Kentucky Derby, trainer Dominick Schettino said Wednesday, with his preference being the Grade 2 Louisiana Derby at Fair Grounds on March 26.

“I just want to run him one more time between now and the Derby,” Schettino said. “I just wanted him to have two races this year before the Derby.”

Schettino said his other choice as a final Derby prep for Greenpointcrusader would be the Grade 1 Wood Memorial at Aqueduct on April 9.

Grade 2, $350,000 Holy Bull Stakes, 1 1/16 miles, Gulfstream Park, Jan. 30, 2016
(10 Derby qualifying points for a win, 4 for second, 2 for third, 1 for fourth)

Winner: Mohaymen (sire: Tapit)
Trainer: Kiaran McLaughlin
Jockey: Junior Alvarado
Owner: Shadwell Stable
Beyer Speed Figure: 95

Grade 3, $250,000 Withers, 1 1/16 miles, Aqueduct, Jan. 30, 2016
(10 Derby qualifying points for a win, 4 for second, 2 for third, 1 for fourth)

Winner: Sunny Ridge (sire: Holy Bull)
Trainer: Jason Servis
Jockey: Manny Franco
Owner: Dennis Drazin
Beyer Speed Figure: 87

ARCADIA, Calif. - Four of the five winners of California Cup stakes for statebreds at Santa Anita on Saturday are likely to run in graded stakes in their next start, with some under consideration for seven-figure and Breeders’ Cup races later this year.

Smokey Image, who extended his unbeaten record to six races with an easy win in the $245,000 California Cup Derby at 1 1/16 miles, is a candidate for the $400,000 San Felipe Stakes for 3-year-olds at 1 1/16 miles on March 12. The Grade 2 San Felipe is a key prep for the $1 million Santa Anita Derby on April 9.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. - In Sunny Ridge, owner Dennis Drazin believes he has a nice 3-year-old who deserves the opportunity to run in a classic race. Whether that classic is the Kentucky Derby, well, that’s another story.

Noting that the Derby usually attracts a 20-horse field and many horses come out of that race needing time off, Drazin said Sunday morning he would be more inclined to skip the Derby and try to get Sunny Ridge to either the Preakness or Belmont Stakes, the other two legs of the Triple Crown.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Trainer Kiaran McLaughlin reported Sunday morning from his Palm Meadows base that all was well with Mohaymen in the aftermath of the Shadwell Stable colt’s smashing victory the previous day in the Grade 2 Holy Bull Stakes at Gulfstream Park.

Making his 3-year-old debut, Mohaymen left little doubt that he is the leading East Coast contender for the May 7 Kentucky Derby – and surely sparked speculation that he might now even be the overall division leader – when he cruised to a 3 1/2-length victory over Greenpointcrusader. He earned a 95 Beyer Speed Figure.