HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Trainer Phil Serpe has been a fixture during the winter at Gulfstream Park for nearly three decades. But not since 1992, when Serpe won 18 races, has he had a season in South Florida like the one that ended over the weekend with a pair of victories, including Lady Joan’s front-running half-length triumph over the odds-on Thewayiam in an optional claimer on Saturday.

LEXINGTON, Ky. – A pair of Kentucky Oaks hopefuls coming off their most important victory both were out for a five-furlong breeze Monday morning over a fast track at Churchill, with Street Band finishing in 1:00.40 and Champagne Anyone going at a more relaxed pace in 1:03.40.

In their last start, Street Band won the Fair Grounds Oaks for trainer Larry Jones, and Champagne Anyone captured the Gulfstream Park Oaks for trainer Ian Wilkes.

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Blue Prize, whose breakout 2018 included a victory last fall in the Grade 1 Spinster at Keeneland, will return to action Friday when she will be favored in a field of eight fillies and mares in the Grade 3, $100,000 Doubledogdare at 1 1/16 miles on the main track.

LEXINGTON, Ky. – The maneuvers of the Chad Brown stable are not unlike those in the old board game Risk, with moments of relative inactivity being followed by momentous skirmishes and subsequent regroupings.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Chad Brown and Graham Motion each won a turf stakes over the weekend, and the two trainers have 60 percent of the field for Friday’s $100,000 Memories of Silver Stakes for 3-year-old fillies at Aqueduct – provided the race stays on turf.

Only five were entered to run in the 1 1/16-mile Memories of Silver, while three other horses were designated to run only if the race is moved to the main track.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – The New York Racing Association will experiment by conducting twilight racing on Thursdays instead of Fridays at the Belmont Park spring/summer meet that begins April 26.

First post for eight of the 10 Thursdays when racing is conducted will be 3:05 p.m. The exceptions will be May 2 and July 4, the first and last Thursdays of the meet, respectively. Post time for those Thursdays and the other days of the meet is tentatively set for 1:30 p.m.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Wonder Gadot, who defeated males to win the first two legs of the Canadian Triple Crown in 2018, could be in for a big night at Thursday’s 44th annual Sovereign Awards ceremony, which will recognize last season’s outstanding achievements in Canadian racing.

Jason Beem will take over the announcing duties at Monmouth Park until full-time race caller Frank Mirahmadi returns to the Oceanport, N.J., track on June 28 following the conclusion of the Santa Anita Park season.

Beem, 38, called the races at Portland Meadows for 10 years through 2014. He also was the announcer at Louisiana Downs, River Downs and Emerald Downs before taking a sabbatical from the profession. He returned to the mic last fall to fill in for Peter Aiello at Gulfstream Park West.

A native of Washington, Beem has never been to Monmouth before.

LEXINGTON, Ky. – With a monstrous couple of weeks that included six stakes wins, Javier Castellano has set a record for a non-Breeders’ Cup meet at Keeneland with $1,905,914 in mount earnings. The 41-year-old Venezuela native will fall one shy of the most stakes wins at a meet (seven, Pat Day, 1998 fall) because he will miss the last seven cards to ride primarily at Belmont Park prior to returning to Kentucky for Derby weekend.

LEXINGTON, KY. – Heart to Heart has run his last race. A perennial fan favorite who got his name because of a distinctive heart-shaped marking on his forehead, Heart to Heart has been retired as a two-time Grade 1 winner who won 15 of 41 starts and $2,035,090. He finished last of seven Friday in the Maker’s 46 Mile.

Brian Lynch, who trained the 8-year-old Ontario-bred horse for owner Terry Hamilton, said Heart to Heart will be stabled at nearby Hidden Brook Farm for the time being, with stud plans still to be announced.