LEXINGTON, Ky. – There was a good chance that her loss as the favorite last October in the Grade 1 First Lady at Keeneland was going to be the last career start for Hungry Island.

“We waited a while after that race to see if we were going to breed her or keep on running her,” said Shug McGaughey, the Hall of Famer who trains Hungry Island for her breeder, Emory Hamilton. “I took her down to Payson Park for the winter, and honestly I’ve never seen her look better.”

ARCADIA, Calif. – Hear the Ghost, who was scratched from Saturday’s $750,000 Santa Anita Derby on Thursday because of an injury detected in a knee, will be rested for four months before he returns to training, trainer and co-owner Jerry Hollendorfer said Friday.

Hollendorfer stressed that Hear the Ghost’s injury was minor and would not require surgery, but said the timing eliminates a spring campaign, including the Triple Crown races.

Freedom Choice was the sort of 2-year-old Quarter Horse who improved with each start in 2012. By December, he was the 2-1 favorite in the Los Alamitos Two Million Futurity, but finished third, losing by a head to the filly Matabari.

Freedom Choice’s 3-year-old season began on a brighter note, with a win in a March 17 time trial for Sunday’s $205,900 El Primero Del Ano Derby at Los Alamitos. He may not be favored in the final, but has an excellent chance to win the 400-yard race.

There is strength in numbers, and trainer Jerry Hollendorfer is taking full advantage of that in Sunday’s $50,000-added Golden Poppy at Golden Gate Fields. Hollendorfer is saddling four of the 11 runners in the 1 1/16-mile turf race for fillies and mares: Halo Dolly, Going for a Spin, Cathy’s Crunches, and Lady Aspen.

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Magical Moon has been scratched from the Grade 1, $500,000 Ashland Stakes on Saturday at Keeneland after being assigned the far outside post in a field of 14 and will run instead in the Grade 2, $150,000 Beaumont Stakes here a week from Sunday, April 14.

Magical Moon, a good third here in the Grade 1 Darley Alcibiades last fall after breaking from the far outside post, was to be ridden by Rosie Napravnik in the Ashland, which goes at 1 1/16 miles on Polytrack.

HALLANDALE  BEACH, Fla. - All three turf races in Friday’s Rainbow 6 sequence at Gulfstream Park will be taken off the grass and moved to the main course due to heavy overnight rains and a forecast for more rain later in the afternoon.

There is a carryover of nearly $2 million going into Friday’s card, and the pool is expected to climb as high as $7 million or $8 million by the time it closes before the eighth race. There is a mandatory payout of the Rainbow 6 pool on Friday, closing day of the meet.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Handicappers throughout the country will be burning the midnight oil on Thursday, trying to come up with the winning combination for Friday's Rainbow 6 at Gulfstream Park.

GRAND ISLAND, Neb. - Diamond Joe seeks his third straight stakes win of the meet and preps for a likely appearance later this month in the $75,000 Bosselman/Gus Fonner Stakes as he headlines a field of eight in the $20,000-guaranteed Dowd Mile Stakes at Fonner Park on Saturday.

The year's first stakes event in Ohio takes place Saturday at Beulah Park, and as is often the case, trainer Tim Hamm looks to be holding a pair of aces.

Hamm sends out the entry of Significant Bling and Blazing Bling in the $50,000 Royal North for 3-year-old Ohio-bred fillies. The Hamm entry is 2-5 on the morning line, and the odds of one of the fillies being selected Ohio's 2-year-old filly of the year for 2012 are about the same. That honor will be announced Friday, April 12, at the annual awards dinner of the Ohio Thoroughbred Breeders and Owners.

African Rose can become Sunland Park's winningest horse of the meet Saturday if she picks off her fourth race of the local season in the $50,000 Czaria. To do so, she will have to defeat Santa Anita invader Scary Ride and recent Turf Paradise stakes winner Jaws n' Paws in the six-furlong race for fillies and mares that also drew Pyrite On My Mind.