ARCADIA, Calif. – Soothsay emerged from her win in Saturday’s Grade 2 Santa Anita Oaks in such fine condition that trainer Richard Mandella was cautiously making plans to test the filly in the Grade 1 Kentucky Oaks on April 30 at Churchill Downs.

Soothsay is unbeaten in two starts – a maiden special weight race at six furlongs for 3-year-old fillies on Feb. 26 and the $392,000 Santa Anita Oaks at 1 1/16 miles. The $1.25 million Kentucky Oaks is run at 1 1/8 miles and will pit Soothsay against more experienced fillies.

ARCADIA, Calif. – Gamine was the fourth champion of 2020 to win this year when she cruised to an easy score in Sunday’s Grade 3 Las Flores Stakes for fillies and mares at Santa Anita.

The outstanding female sprinter last year, Gamine performed well within herself to beat three overmatched rivals in the Las Flores at six furlongs. That was fine with trainer Bob Baffert. Ridden by John Velazquez, Gamine led from the start and won by five lengths, finishing in 1:09.52.

Charles Town Races in West Virginia has canceled its live racing programs for one week in order to perform maintenance on its racing surface, the track announced on Monday.

The four cards that are being canceled were scheduled for April 21-24. Live racing will resume on April 28, according to the track, which runs on a Wednesday-through-Saturday schedule.

Trainer Kenny McPeek said Monday he is making preparations to send Swiss Skydiver to Oaklawn Park for the Grade 1 Apple Blossom on April 17 after the 3-year-old filly champion of 2020 was sent through her second breeze since she captured her 4-year-old debut, the Grade 1 Beholder Mile on March 13. Swiss Skydiver went a half-mile in 48 seconds early Saturday at Churchill.

McPeek had considered waiting for the Grade 1 La Troienne on the April 30 Kentucky Oaks undercard at Churchill before opting for the $1 million Apple Blossom.

Up goes Frazier’s number

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Julien Leparoux has picked up the mount on Helium for the May 1 Kentucky Derby, trainer Mark Casse said Monday. Unbeaten in three career starts, Helium will run in the Derby off just one prep race as a 3-year-old, that being the March 6 Tampa Bay Derby.

Leparoux replaces Jose Ferrer, the 57-year-old veteran who guided Helium to his Tampa win. This will be the 13th time in the last 15 runnings that Leparoux has had a Derby mount, with his best finish coming aboard the Casse-trained Classic Empire, fourth in 2017.

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Wesley Ward celebrated the Easter holiday by riding a lawn mower for part of the day. Of course he did. Ward must have been punishing himself for failing to win either of the 2-year-old races on the opening-day Keeneland card Friday, when Dream Fly was second at 4-5 and Magniloquent was seventh at 7-5.

“Needed some alone time to do a little thinking, actually,” said Ward.

ARCADIA, Calif. – Shortly after 1 p.m. last Friday, Santa Anita track announcer Frank Mirahmadi heard something during the running of the first race that had been missing for nearly 13 months during the coronavirus pandemic.

Below his position atop the stands, a small crowd rooted home the runners in the opening race, led by race winner So Much Happy.

“If there was ever the right name, I think it was fitting,” Mirahmadi reflected Sunday.

“I could hear it. It was such a nice feeling. You could hear a little bit of life out there. It’s been a sad situation.”

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Trainer Joe Orseno said his star turf sprinter Imprimis bled from the nostrils when beaten just a nose Saturday by Bound for Nowhere in the Grade 2 Shakertown and blasted the new Keeneland policy that bans usage of the bleeder medication Lasix in stakes races during a post-race interview.

“They’re taking the best horses in the country and they’re penalizing them,” said Orseno, who won his first race in 1977. “My horse bled today, visibly, blood coming out of his nose. How is that good for the public’s perception? It’s just not fair.”

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Mystic Guide, the 3 3/4-length winner of the March 27 Dubai World Cup, returned to the Mike Stidham shed row at Keeneland over the weekend after clearing quarantine following his return flight from overseas.

“He came back really well,” Stidham said early Monday. “He’ll stay with me here until the end of the meet, and then we’ll take him back to Fair Hill,” the northern Maryland training center where Stidham has his primary year-round base.

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Joel Rosario and Luis Saez dominated the first two cards of the Keeneland spring meet that opened last weekend, but they’ll have to make room for another superstar in the jockeys’ room – at least for this week.

Irad Ortiz Jr., fresh from a six-win Saturday at Aqueduct, will ride Wednesday through Sunday at Keeneland in what is expected to be his only action here during a 15-day meet that runs through April 23. Ortiz will return to the state at some point late this month for Kentucky Derby week at Churchill Downs in Louisville, according to agent Steve Rushing.