Horse Racing News

Secret Circle handled the latest distance test in his escalating career Saturday at Oaklawn Park, when he beat a fast-closing Optimizer by three-quarters of a length in the Grade 2, $500,000 Rebel Stakes.

The Grade 3, $150,000 Azeri is the local prep for the meet's biggest offering for fillies and mares, the Grade 1, $500,000 Apple Blossom on April 13. It also is the first half of a stakes double.

Bob Baffert has favored Secret Circle in the Rebel, which he won last year with The Factor and in 2010 with Lookin At Lucky.

The rash of breakdowns over Aqueduct's inner track this winter have apparently caught the attention of New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

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.