HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Don Grisham, the 83-year-old retired Daily Racing Form columnist who makes his home near Oaklawn Park, is improving after suffering a major stroke March 27. His wife, Iris, said he has been moved from a Little Rock, Ark., hospital to Lake Hamilton Health and Rehab near his home in Hot Springs.

“He’s much more alert today than he’s been at any time,” she said Tuesday. “He’s talking and wanting to call his friends. I’m excited that he’s improved as much as he has today. He still can’t move his left arm or leg, but he’s sat up since 11 a.m.”

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Harold and Jessie Ladouceur were in the midst of a difficult season when an injured filly attracted their attention at the Canadian Thoroughbred Horse Society’s Canadian-bred September yearling sale at Woodbine in 2012.

“She was strong, had good bone, and something about her caught my eye,” trainer Harold Ladouceur, 47, said. “My wife and I had looked at her two or three times, and we kept going back to look at her. She had a great, big splint on her left front cannon bone, but I wasn’t too worried about it.”

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Brewing, who has developed into arguably the best 3-year-old sprinter on the grounds this meet at Oaklawn Park, and Pimpernel, a son of Xtra Heat invading from Southern California, make the $100,000 Bachelor Stakes here Friday an intriguing prelude to the card’s centerpiece, the Grade 1, $600,000 Apple Blossom Handicap.

LEXINGTON, Ky. – An oversubscribed field of 3-year-olds has been entered for Saturday in the 90th running of the Grade 1, $750,000 Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland.

Bobby’s Kitten, making his Polytrack debut after establishing himself as a standout on grass, has been listed as the 3-1 morning-line favorite after being assigned post 5 in the 1 1/8-mile race.

Fifteen were entered, although only as many as 14 can run. Divine Oath is the lone also-eligible as one of three entries for Todd Pletcher, who also is represented by Gala Award and Vinceremos.

Race 1

Race 1

A dispute between Colonial Downs and the state’s horsemen over the proper length of the 2014 meet escalated on Tuesday when Colonial officials said that they were prepared to shutter the track this year and seek out a live-racing contract with a group other than the Virginia Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association.

A relatively slow start (1 for 7) to the spring meet can be easily forgotten by Ken Ramsey with a big upcoming weekend.

Ramsey, who with his wife, Sarah, more than doubled their own record for the most wins for an owner at a Keeneland meet with 25 last spring, not only will be looking to get a third horse into the May 3 Kentucky Derby but also is anxious to see his standout turf mare, Stephanie’s Kitten, in her 5-year-old debut.

[ROAD TO THE KENTUCKY DERBY: Prep races, point standings, replays]

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Wise Dan was assigned post 3 and will face six other older horses when the reigning two-time Horse of the Year makes his eagerly awaited seasonal debut Friday in the Grade 1 Maker’s 46 Mile on the Keeneland turf.

John Velazquez has the mount on Wise Dan, a 7-year-old gelding making his first start since a victory in the Nov. 2 Breeders’ Cup Mile clinched his second straight Horse of the Year title.

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – On Fire Baby appears to have more in her favor coming into Friday’s Grade 1, $600,000 Apple Blossom Handicap at Oaklawn Park than she did last season, when she won the race off an 11-month layoff. This year, On Fire Baby will have the benefit of a start under her belt when she breaks from post 4 in the field of five fillies and mares. Entries for the 1 1/16-mile race were taken Wednesday.