LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The Arlington Million that will be run over the Churchill Downs turf course this summer is the next likely major target for Santin, with maybe one race in between, trainer Brendan Walsh said Wednesday.

Santin rose into the elite ranks of the male turf division by winning the Grade 1 Old Forester Turf Classic on the Kentucky Derby undercard Saturday at Churchill. The 4-year-old Distorted Humor colt “likes it here, likes the course, so in the long term you’d have to think about the Arlington Million,” said Walsh.

California trainer Doug O’Neill plans to have runners in leading stakes for 3-year-olds throughout the nation in coming weeks and months, beginning with the upstart B Dawk in the $100,000 Sir Barton Stakes at 1 1/16 miles on May 21 at Pimlico.

B Dawk, owned by West Point Thoroughbreds and Joseph Besecker, won a maiden special weight race at about seven furlongs at Keeneland on April 24. The Sir Barton Stakes, part of the undercard of the Preakness program, will be B Dawk’s first start around two turns.

ARCADIA, Calif. - Blue Stripe, winner of the Grade 2 Santa Margarita Stakes in her 2022 debut on April 30, will have one more start before the conclusion of the Santa Anita winter-spring meeting on June 19.

Trainer Marcelo Polanco said last weekend that Blue Stripe will start in the Grade 2 Santa Maria Stakes, a $200,000 race for fillies and mares at 1 1/16 miles on June 18. The Santa Margarita Stakes was run at 1 1/8 miles.

ARCADIA, Calif. - The 2-year-old filly arrived at Santa Anita from Florida last Saturday. Within a day, she was a barn favorite for trainer John Shirreffs.

That should not be a surprise. The filly, Zilkha, is by Candy Ride out of Zenyatta, the 2010 Horse of the Year and one of the most popular racehorses of recent memory.

Zilkha had no difficulty adjusting to Santa Anita, galloping at Santa Anita on Sunday.

Assiniboia Downs is now planning to start its 2022 Thoroughbred racing season on Tuesday, May 31, a week later than originally planned.

While things are starting to thaw out in Winnipeg as they should in May, late winter storms and other weather-related issues in April have shortened the training window for horses. As the track approached its original start date, it became apparent that horse colony is simply not ready to start in full. 

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Trainer Kenny McPeek confirmed Tuesday that Creative Minister will be supplemented to the Preakness for a $150,000 fee but that Smile Happy will not run in the May 21 classic at Pimlico and Rattle N Roll is only a possible starter.

Creative Minister, a sharp allowance winner on the Kentucky Derby card last Saturday at Churchill Downs, will be ridden in the $1.5 million Preakness by Brian Hernandez Jr., McPeek said. Owned by Fern Circle Stable and Back Racing, the gray Creative Cause colt earned a 92 Beyer Speed Figure in his Saturday triumph.

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Original Intent won the final race of the Oaklawn Park meet for the second time in a row Sunday, but the result of the Trail’s End starter allowance was one of just a few similarities between the two seasons.

Oaklawn rolled out a new calendar and adjusted 3-year-old program this meet. The season had its earliest opening in its 118-year history, Dec. 3, and rolled for 66 days.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Kentucky Derby Day 2022 was a day of monumental upsets, and not just in the big one.

The inaugural Knicks Go Stakes, held nearly six hours before Rich Strike launched his 80-1 stunner in the 148th Derby, also lit up the Churchill Downs toteboard when Three Technique returned $75.60.

The winning connections went out of their minds after that one, too. Some 50 people affiliated with owner David Miller and trainer Jason Cook packed the winner’s circle in an exceedingly exuberant celebration.

ARCADIA, Calif. – Set Sail, Subconscious, and Royal Ship are scheduled to represent trainer Richard Mandella in graded stakes in coming weeks. The veteran turf runner United is far from a comeback, however.

Set Sail is scheduled to start in Saturday’s Grade 3 Peter Pan Stakes at Belmont Park.

“I think he’s pretty good,” Mandella said.

ARCADIA, Calif. – Lieutenant Dan, second in the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint at Del Mar last November and recently recognized as the 2021 California-bred horse of the year, has resumed training.

Owner and breeder Nick Alexander said Lieutenant Dan is nearing his first official workout of the year for trainer Steve Miyadi.

“He’s breezed a furlong and a few quarter-miles,” Alexander said Saturday at Santa Anita.

Older horses typically are given workout times at distances of three furlongs or more.