LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Trainer George Weaver handicapped the weather perfectly when laying out his final workout plans for his Kentucky Oaks candidate Five G. Choosing instead to complete her preparations in South Florida at Palm Beach Downs, rather than dodging raindrops and dealing with a wet racetrack like so many of his colleagues were forced to do Friday and likely Saturday at Churchill Downs.

Five G breezed four furlongs in 49.60 seconds per Weaver on Thursday morning in relative anonymity at her winter home before boarding a van for a soggy Louisville the following morning.

Just F Y I, the champion 2-year-old filly of 2023, has been retired from racing, trainer Bill Mott said Thursday. She will be bred to Into Mischief.

Just F Y I was pulled up at the three-eighths pole of the Doubledogdare at Keeneland on April 18. She was vanned off the track, but was not injured, according to Mott.

“Don’t see anything wrong with her, but she’s done enough,” Mott said. “She dropped the bit and went from 60 to zero. She was still in his [jockey Junior Alvarado] hands when she stopped. She came back sound.”

Fierceness, the 2-year-old champion of 2023 and the Travers winner in 2024, will make his 2025 debut in the Grade 2, $750,000 Alysheba Stakes on Friday at Churchill Downs, his connections confirmed. Fierceness was being originally being pointed to the Grade 3, $175,000 Westchester Stakes at Aqueduct on May 4.

Todd Pletcher, who trains Fierceness, is also pointing Locked, winner of the Santa Anita Handicap in his last start, to the Alysheba, run at 1 1/16 miles.

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Let the fun begin.

That was the sentiment from trainer John Ortiz after watching Quietside put in her final workout Friday morning at Keeneland in preparation for a start in the Kentucky Oaks next Friday at Churchill Downs.

Under regular rider Jose Ortiz, Quietside went a half-mile in 48.44 seconds, according to Daily Racing Form, while galloping out five furlongs in 1:00.50. The work was done over a fast track, approximately 10 minutes before it began raining heavily and turned the track sloppy.

Although it’s often considered in a lesser light than the New York Racing Association circuit, the meet at Finger Lakes Racetrack, which opens Monday, provides plenty of opportunities for both local horsemen and those shipping in to shine.

People in the Seattle area have long complained about the hordes of Californians who have moved north in pursuit of cheaper housing and milder weather.

The opposite reaction is now occurring a half-hour south of the city at Emerald Downs, where, thanks to an unprecedented influx of barns formerly based in Northern California, the jewel-box track with the spectacular view of Mount Rainier stands to have more horses on its backstretch than at any point in the last decade for a 51-date meet that opens Sunday.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – It is expected there will be plenty of pace in this year’s Kentucky Derby. Brian Lynch doesn’t want his horse, Owen Almighty, to be a part of it.

Despite Owen Almighty’s biggest win to date, the Tampa Bay Derby, having been accomplished in gate-to-wire fashion, Lynch expects Owen Almighty to be off the pace in his attempt to navigate the 1 1/4 miles of the Kentucky Derby on May 3 at Churchill Downs.