Gold Medal Dancer, a half-length winner of the Grade 2, $294,000 Azeri Stakes over champion Untapable last Saturday at Oaklawn, likely will advance to the track’s Grade 1, $600,000 Apple Blossom Handicap on April 10, said trainer Donnie Von Hemel. He said Gold Medal Dancer also would be made eligible for the Doubledogdare at Keeneland and the La Troienne at Churchill Downs.

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Horses trained by Todd Pletcher have accounted for two of the first three races in Oaklawn Park’s handicap series. Golden Lad invaded from south Florida and took down the $100,000 Essex in February, and Race Day traveled to town last week and won the Grade 3, $250,000 Razorback. There is one more offering for the division at the meet, and Golden Lad could return for the occasion, said Pletcher.

War Story broke slowly when he finished second to International Star in the Lecomte and Risen Star stakes in his last two starts, and trainer Tom Amoss is trying to correct the issue before the Louisiana Derby on March 28.

On Monday, War Story broke out of the gate and ran about an eighth of a mile, a schooling session intended to improve his start.

As well as she ran in winning the Silverbulletday Stakes in January, and as strong as her performance was in capturing the Rachel Alexandra Stakes in February, I’m a Chatterbox might be even better in March. She runs next on March 28 in the Fair Grounds Oaks.

On Monday, in her first workout since she rallied from last to win the Feb. 21 Rachel Alexandra, I’m a Chatterbox zipped through a five-furlong drill in 59.20 seconds. It was the fastest of 20 works at the distance – and it was in no way intended to be fast.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Gulfstream Park racing officials are hoping to get a sizable field for the March 28 Florida Derby, although it looks like Upstart and two Todd Pletcher horses will tower over an otherwise undistinguished group of 3-year-olds.

Gulfstream vice president of racing P.J. Campo said he is looking for at least eight horses, and “hopefully a couple more,” to run in the Grade 1, $1 million Florida Derby, which helps kick off the final round of Kentucky Derby preps worth 100 eligibility points to the winner.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Trainer Jimmy Jerkens said he was quite pleased with Wicked Strong’s 2015 debut, a fourth-place finish in the one-mile Gulfstream Park Handicap. Wicked Strong earned a career-best 104 Beyer Speed Figure while beaten just a length by the winner, Honor Code. Wicked Strong was making his first start since clipping heels and losing his rider, Rajiv Maragh, more than five months earlier in the Grade 1 Jockey Club Gold Cup.

Happy My Way, owned by Sagamore Racing and Mel Paikoff, was honored as Florida-bred champion sprinter and older male by the Florida Thoroughbred Breeders’ and Owners’ Association on Monday evening.

Sagamore Farm in Glyndon, Md., was owned from the 1920s to the 1980s by Alfred Vanderbilt Jr. and his family. The 530-acre farm was purchased in 2007 by Maryland native Kevin Plank, the founder and CEO of Under Armour.

Delaware Park will hold a life celebration Saturday for former track outrider Steve Kisielewski, who died March 4 at age 68.

Kisielewski, a former jockey, was the lead outrider at Delaware Park from 1986 until he retired in 2007. A native of Derry, N.H., he began riding in New England in the 1960s and competed at Narragansett Park, Suffolk Downs, Rockingham Park, Shenandoah Downs, and Green Mountain, among other tracks.

Unrivaled took a successful first step for his new owner, Team Valor International, winning a first-level allowance at Parx Racing on Sunday by five lengths. The victory came on the heels of a 15-length Parx maiden score.

We will learn more about Unrivaled in his next race, which is likely to come April 4 in either the Blue Grass at Keeneland or the Wood Memorial at Aqueduct.

ARCADIA, Calif. – Finnegans Wake has emerged over the past three months as the best long-distance turf horse in California, and he will seek to retain that position when shooting for his fourth straight victory Saturday in the Grade 2, $200,000 San Luis Rey Stakes, the highlight of the weekend’s stakes action at Santa Anita.