Greatest Honour all but secured himself a spot in the Kentucky Derby by rallying to a victory in the Grade 2 Fountain of Youth at Gulfstream Park.
Greatest Honour swept to a dominant win in the Holy Bull to earn 10 points on the Derby trail, while Medina Spirit won the Bob Lewis.
Trainer Shug McGaughey is hoping for his fifth win in the Dinner Party Stakes Saturday, as he sends out 5-1 Doctor Mounty.
Risen Star runner-up Country House checked in at 10th, and voters showed support for the late Battle of Midway.
World Approval, the Eclipse Champion turf male of 2017, will look to get on track when he tackles the Grade 2 Dixie Stakes Saturday at Pimlico.
Onus, a Shug McGaughey trainee, will make her stakes debut Saturday in the Grade 3 Commonwealth Oaks at Laurel Park.
Top Billing posted a morning breeze in preparation for Friday’s Grade 3 Pimlico Special.
Tricky Hat took the short way home to win the Laurel Turf Cup at Laurel Park.
Local star Ben’s Cat, trained by should-be Hall of Famer King Leatherbury, will pass on the De Francis Dash to run in the grassy Laurel Dash, where he is odds-on.
Paynter went from Grade 1 star to the brink of death. His journey back to the mountaintop began at Fair Hill.