OZONE PARK, N.Y. – While racetracks in other jurisdictions have announced plans to host fans on a limited basis, the New York Racing Association is still awaiting guidance from state officials on rules to allow it to host patrons at the upcoming Belmont and Saratoga meets.

Del Mar has increased incentives paid to owners of horses sent to California from other states or countries for the track’s summer meeting from July 16 to Sept. 6 in an effort to boost field size.

Parnelli, well beaten in two graded stakes for 3-year-olds in January, will start in the Grade 1 Runhappy Santa Anita Derby on April 3, joining a field that has increased in size in recent days following the defection of race favorite Life Is Good.

Parnelli worked five furlongs in 1:01 on Wednesday at Santa Anita.

“He was very strong and into the bridle,” trainer John Shirreffs said. “He galloped out nicely.”

Shirreffs said the absence of Life Is Good due to injury has influenced the decision to start Parnelli, who will be a longshot.

Los Alamitos has changed the qualifying format for the $600,000 Champion of Champions for older horses on Dec. 11, giving track officials the discretion to invite horses instead of awarding some berths to the winners of major stakes outside California.

In recent years, the winners of such races as the Remington Park Championship, All American Derby at Ruidoso Downs, and Bank of America Challenge Championship, which frequently moves to different venues, have received provisional berths, provided the horse can comply with the track’s strict medication policies.

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Oaklawn Park has a new training center about 20 miles from the track, and it will be open for year-round access following the close of the current meet on May 1, track president Lou Cella said Tuesday.

“We just made that decision last week,” Cella said. “We’re going to open to trainers for use after the season. It will be year round, starting after the meet.”

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Man in the Can will have a new title Saturday when he runs in the $150,000 Nodouble at Oaklawn Park – Arkansas-bred horse of the year.

Man in the Can has earned the honor for 2020, according to Deana Echols, executive secretary of the Arkansas Thoroughbred Breeders’ and Horsemen’s Association. She said Tuesday that the horse led all registered Arkansas-breds in earnings last year in North America.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Before Todd Pletcher sends out Known Agenda in trying to win the Florida Derby for a record sixth time, the future Hall of Fame trainer will have a busy day with a number of top contenders in the earlier stakes.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Mike Shanley is a Villanova University graduate and a huge fan of the school’s basketball program, but pardon the 74-year-old retired attorney if he is preoccupied when the Wildcats face heavily favored Baylor in the NCAA tournament late Saturday afternoon.

“As much as I love the school and Villanova basketball, both of my eyes are going to be focused on that racetrack,” Shanley said with a chuckle this week from Ocean Ridge, Fla.

Chris Griffin, the race caller at Sam Houston Race Park in Houston, has accepted a position as the full-time track announcer for Parx Racing in Bensalem, Penn., the track announced on Wednesday.

Griffin, who got his start in car racing, will take over for Keith Jones, who called the races at Parx (which was formerly called Philadelphia Park) for 34 years before announcing his retirement last December. Parx races nearly year round, so Griffin will relocate to Pennsylvania.

Attendance at this year’s Preakness Stakes at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore in May will be limited to 10,000 due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, the track’s parent company and local government officials said Tuesday.

The Preakness, the second leg of the Triple Crown, has typically drawn approximately 130,000 to the Baltimore track during the last decade. The 10,000 attendees allowed this year will be required to maintain social-distancing protocols, the track said.