Horse Racing News on March 14, 2012

On a three-race stakes winning streak for trainer Bob Baffert, Ellafitz will go for her first Grade 1 victory against five opponents in the $300,000 Santa Margarita Invitational Stakes March 17 at Santa Anita.

Musical Romance will look to rebound when she lines up for Saturday's Grade 2, $150,000 Inside Information at Gulfstream Park.

A nuclear scan has pinpointed the start of a stress fracture in Animal Kingdom's hind end that will not require surgery.

In an unexpected development, the producers of the HBO series "Luck," which is set at Santa Anita, announced Wednesday afternoon that production of the show would be discontinued immediately.

Horse of the Year Havre de Grace, set to make her 2012 debut in the $150,000 New Orleans Ladies Stakes at Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots March 17, drew post position 2 and will face four opponents.

Whether trainer John Servis will have his first Kentucky Derby starter since winning the race in 2004 with Smarty Jones could be determined over the next nine days.

One of the reasons Bob Baffert rose so quickly through the ranks of Thoroughbred trainers, all the way to the Hall of Fame, is that he relies so much on instincts.

Gulfstream Park will host the 14th running of the Claiming Crown on the opening day of its 2012-2013 meet Dec. 1, 2012.

Spring Hill Farm, who finished fourth in the March 10 Tampa Bay Derby, suffered a right knee fracture and will have surgery at Rood and Riddle Equine Hospital in Lexington March 14.