Weekend Watch: Loaded Fair Grounds card the headliner

Presidents' Day weekend means a handful of tracks will continue running through Monday, with plenty to keep horse players occupied. The caliber of stakes races running -- in particular those at New Orleans' Fair Grounds -- are also of note for fans. The Road to the 2018 Kentucky Derby and Kentucky Oaks enters its next stage with more points on the line, while some familiar names fill out the undercard stakes. That, in addition to other graded action around the country.

Here's what to watch for, with all times Eastern:

Derby and Oaks happenings.

The preps for the big May dances change venues this weekend, with points races at Fair Grounds, Oaklawn Park and Golden Gate Fields. While there are three Derby preps, the Grade 2 Rachel Alexandra Stakes at Fair Grounds is the sole Oaks qualifier. The field brings together an interesting cast featuring Golden Rod (G2) runner up Monomoy Girl and Pocahontas (G2) winner Patrona Margarita in their 2018 debuts, as well as Silverbulletday competitors Wonder Gadot and Heavenly Love. The Grade 2 Risen Star, the Fair Grounds Derby prep, attracted a field of 10, including the top 3 finishers from last month’s LeComte (G3): Instilled Regard, Principe Guilherme, and Snapper Sinclair. Well-regarded Noble Indy, from the barn of Todd Pletcher, joins the field in his stakes debut.

The El Camino Real Derby is nearly unique in that it is contested on Golden Gate Fields’s all weather track rather than a traditional dirt. California Derby winner Choo Choo has been given morning line favoritism, but Cal Derby runner-up Mugaritz returns hoping to turn the tables. New shooters Paved and Blended Citizen are legitimate threats for the El Camino win. However, it's not often the winner here goes on to factor on the first Saturday in May.

As of this writing, entries for Monday’s Grade 3 Southwest Stakes at Oaklawn Park have not been drawn. There is speculation that the race will be split into two divisions, something that has previously happened three times. But this would be the first instance in which both races would carry the full $500,000 purse. The race will split if 18-20 horses are entered.

Both the Risen Star and the Rachel Alexandra are the first Derby and Oaks preps to award points on a 50-20-10-5 basis. The Southwest and El Camino Real Derby are both worth 10-4-2-1 to the top four.

Grade 2 Rachel Alexandra (5:05 p.m.)

Grade 2 Risen Star (6:03 p.m.)

El Camino Real Derby (6:45 p.m.)

Southwest (TBA)

Uncle Sigh continues campaign in Haynesfield Stakes

Four years ago, Uncle Sigh was on the Kentucky Derby trail. He took the Aqueduct route, running second in the Withers (G3) and the Gotham (G3) and fifth in what was then a Grade 1 race, the Wood Memorial, before ultimately finishing 14th in California Chrome's Kentucky Derby. He hasn’t seen stakes company since then and has been inconsistent in allowance company. However, he kicked off 2018 on a winning note and will look to continue on that path when he faces five others in Aqueduct’s Haynesfield Stakes, a one-mile dirt event for older New York-bred colts and geldings. Post time is at 1:50 p.m. Saturday.

Cedartown, Mr. Misunderstood headline Fair Grounds undercard

Godolphin-owned Cedartown has never been out of the exacta in his career and enters the Grade 3 Mineshaft Handicap off back-to-back stakes wins. The Candy Ride colt concluded 2017 with a victory in the Zia Park Derby and began 2018 with a win in the Louisiana Stakes. This is obviously a step up in class for the lightly raced 4-year old, but his numbers fit with the rest of the field. Second choice The Player has fired off three straight bullet works since running fourth to Cedartown last month, while third choice Scuba may be better suited to distance a good bit longer than the 8.5 furlongs of this race.

Trained by Brad Cox, Mr. Misunderstood is undefeated at Fair Grounds, undefeated on the turf, and 1-for-2 at the nine-furlong distance with his loss coming on the dirt. He rides a five-race winning streak into the Grade 3 Fair Grounds Handicap and faces an interesting cast in the 11 others entered. Six-year old Catcho En Die has raced just four times in his career and is a Group 1 winner in his native country. He ran second in his U.S. debut back in December after lacking running room and posted a seven-furlong bullet in his final work leading up to this race. Galton likes to hit the board at Fair Grounds but does not own a win over the course, and Synchrony comes in off a nearly nine-month layoff with quite a good work pattern.

Post time for the Mineshaft Handicap is 4:05 p.m., and the Grade 3 Fair Grounds Handicap is set to go off at 5:35 p.m.

X Y Jet continues comeback at Tampa Bay Downs

X Y Jet returned from a 13-month hiatus back in December, winning both his first race off the layoff, the Mr. Prospector (G3), and his subsequent start. He will continue his comeback in the Pelican Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs. The six-furlong event attracted a field of nine, including multiple graded stakes placed Recruiting Ready. By Algorithms, Recruiting Ready also just returned from a hiatus, running third in his 2018 debut after being off since a third-place Woody Stephens (G2) run in June.

Small but competitive field assembles at Oaklawn

This year’s Grade 3 Bayakoa Stakes drew just seven, but what the field lacks in quantity, it makes up for in quality. UAE One Thousand Guineas and UAE Oaks winner Polar River makes her 2018 bow and second U.S. start while breaking from the rail. Multiple graded stakes winners Farrell and Terra Promessa, graded stakes winner Streamline, and graded stakes placed Torrent are also part of the field. Post time is 6:09 p.m.

Second foal for Bouquet Booth debuts at Tampa

Graded stakes winner Bouquet Booth will have her second foal of racing age debut on Sunday in Tampa Bay Downs’s seventh race. Bouquet of Gold, a 3-year old filly by Medaglia d’Oro, is cross-entered in a race on Saturday but probably won’t start there as she is an “also eligible.” Sunday’s race is a mile turf event for 3-year old fillies, and Bouquet of Gold enters with a so-so work pattern. She has not shown a ton of speed in the mornings, but we won’t know for sure how that will translate in the afternoons until after Sunday. Post time is 3:44 p.m.

Skye Diamonds begins year in Las Flores

A former claimer, Skye Diamonds rounded into career form during the second half of 2017. After earning black type in the Dream of Summer Stakes, the mare ran fifth in her graded debut. From there she ticked off consecutive wins in the Great Lady M Stakes (G2) and the Rancho Bernardo Handicap (G3). She culminated her year with a fourth-place effort in the Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Sprint, beating some of the nation’s top female sprinters, including 2017 Eclipse Award Champion Female Sprinter Unique Bella. She will begin her 2018 campaign on Sunday in the Grade 3 Las Flores Stakes, a 6 furlong event for older female sprinters at Santa Anita Park. Five others will contest the race, and post time is at 7 p.m.