OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Joe Rocco Jr. has picked up the mount on Highway Star when the multiple graded stakes-winning New York-bred mare makes her 5-year-old debut in Saturday’s $150,000 Heavenly Prize Invitational at Aqueduct.

ARCADIA, Calif. – Trainer Ron Ellis is in the process of reforming his stable after serving a 60-day suspension earlier this year for a medication violation from 2016.

Ellis was reinstated last Friday and was in the stables Sunday morning.

“I’m working on getting some stalls,” he said. “We’ll see how many they give me.”

Ellis was suspended after Masochistic tested positive for the steroid stanozolol when second in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint at Santa Anita in 2016. In California, steroids are not allowed to appear in post-race tests.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Trainer Ken Decker and owner Fred Brei suffered two tough beats in stakes races run on the Feb. 17 card at Laurel Park, losing both the Grade 3 General George and the listed Miracle Wood by a neck.

Undeterred, Decker and Brei will take shots in three of the four stakes scheduled for Saturday at Aqueduct.

ARCADIA, Calif. – Ransom the Moon was a tired horse when he finished fourth in the Grade 1 Santa Anita Sprint Championship in October and fifth in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint in November at Del Mar.

The fatigue was cured by a wintertime break, trainer Phil D’Amato said. Ransom the Moon’s 2018 season starts in Saturday’s Grade 1 Triple Bend Stakes at seven furlongs at Santa Anita.

“He tailed off a little bit last year,” D’Amato said last weekend. “He’s come back as good as ever.”

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – As far as Dale Romans is concerned, when it comes to trying to win the Kentucky Derby, eight is more than enough.

“I’ve been in it eight times. It’s time to get there and win it,” he said in the winner’s circle at Gulfstream Park on Saturday night.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Starlight Racing announced it has reached an agreement with GF Bloodstock to purchase interests in a pair of Kentucky Derby hopefuls, Holy Bull winner Audible and eye-catching maiden winner Justify.

Audible, trained by Todd Pletcher, is pointing for the Grade 1 Florida Derby on March 31.

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HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Trainer Bill Mott has been on a roll of late, sending out a trio of 3-year-old maiden winners within an eight-day span, topped by Hofburg’s half length triumph going a 1 1/16 miles on Saturday.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Gunnevera has always been a hard horse to motivate in his works. Until recently, that is.

Gunnevera worked five furlongs last Saturday morning in 59.40 seconds at Gulfstream Park West with Luis Saez aboard. The work came on the heels of a 58.60 clocking for the same distance one week earlier. Gunnevera is preparing for the Dubai World Cup on March 31.

Todd Pletcher will be seeking to continue his domination of the premier race at Tampa Bay Downs when he sends over Vino Rosso from his Atlantic Coast base for the Grade 2, $350,000 Tampa Bay Derby, to be run Saturday for the 38th time as part of the annual Festival Day.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – It had been a long time between graded stakes wins for trainer Kathy Ritvo, and her last one – the 2013 Breeders’ Cup Classic with Dean and Patti Reeves’s Mucho Macho Man – was obviously a tough act to follow. But with all the hard work and patience she has invested in Classic Rock over the past year, his impressive three-length victory in Saturday’s Grade 3 Gulfstream Park Sprint had to be nearly as satisfying for the Ritvo-Reeves team.