OLDSMAR, Fla. – Having a day that spotlighted the strong influence of Thoroughbred racing and breeding in the Sunshine State was an ambitious and innovative idea that came to fruition some 13 years ago.

Those who worked together to make the Florida Cup a reality had to be smiling after Florida Cup 13 produced an afternoon of racing that featured a good mix of the old and the new and a healthy competition between the powerful stables from south Florida and the locally based outfits from Tampa Bay Downs and Ocala-area training centers.

ARCADIA, Calif. – Both Dortmund and One Lucky Dane, the top two finishers Saturday in the Santa Anita Derby, came out of the race well, trainer Bob Baffert said Sunday morning, and both are set to move on to the Kentucky Derby on May 2.

Two weeks before last year’s Kentucky Derby, trainer Kiaran McLaughlin had to withdraw Cairo Prince from the race due to an injury. At the time, he called it the “toughest day in my career as a trainer.”

That memory made Frosted’s victory in Saturday’s Grade 1, $1 million Wood Memorial at Aqueduct that much more meaningful as both McLaughlin and Sheikh Mohammed al Maktoum’s Godolphin Racing – which had bought into Cairo Prince early last year – appear headed back to the Kentucky Derby.

ARCADIA, Calif. – American Pharoah turned in another brilliant work Sunday morning at Santa Anita, his final drill in preparation for the Arkansas Derby on Saturday at Oaklawn Park.

He went six furlongs in 1:11.60 with jockey Martin Garcia. Track clocker John Malone had American Pharoah's final quarter-mile in 23.30 seconds. Trainer Bob Baffert had American Pharoah going out seven furlongs in 1:24.80.

American Pharoah worked alone, right after the 9 a.m. renovation break.

"I was just galloping. The horse went good," Garcia reported to Baffert via radio.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Tyler Gaffalione got off to a bit of a slow start when finding himself suddenly pitted against many of the best jockeys in the world here this winter. But the young apprentice has shown steady improvement as the meet has progressed, as evidenced by the three victories he posted Thursday at Gulfstream Park.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Trainer Jorge Navarro broke out of a mini-slump Thursday, sending out the winners of both halves of the early daily double at Gulfstream Park, the odds-on Loverbil in the opener and the front-running Wellingtons Appeal over the turf in the second race.

“We needed that,” Navarro said when accepting congratulations for the two wins later in the day.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Racing can be a tough business, full of highs and lows that can strike at any moment. Just ask trainer Bill Kaplan.

On Sunday, Kaplan sent out the steadily improving Celestine to her second straight victory, an impressive 3 1/4-length triumph over odds-on favorite Isabella Sings in the one-mile Sanibel Island Stakes. Less than 72 hours later, Kaplan learned that both Celestine and Ekati’s Phaeton, who upset the Grade 2 Davona Dale Stakes this winter, were being transferred out of his barn and into the care of trainer Bill Mott.

Captain Serious returned from a 75-day layoff with a sharp 4 1/4-length victory in a New York-bred allowance Thursday at Aqueduct.

After dueling with Bass River Road through a hot half-mile in 44.98 seconds, Captain Serious opened up a six-length lead in upper stretch and cruised home.

Captain Serious ran seven furlongs in 1:22.71 and earned a 98 Beyer Speed Figure, equaling his career best.

John Parisella couldn’t stay away.

A leading trainer on the New York Racing Association circuit in the 1980s and ’90s, Parisella retired in the summer of 2013, saddling his last horse June 16 that year. After leaving New York for the last 22 months, Parisella, 70, plans to have 15 horses based at Belmont this spring.

“Can’t get it out of my blood,” Parisella said.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Brian Lynch did quite well last year shipping horses to New York from his Canadian base. From 20 starters, he won five races, including four stakes, and his horses finished in the money 55 percent of the time.