Little Mike to make 2014 debut Saturday

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Multiple Grade 1 winner Little Mike will make his 2014 debut here Saturday in the $75,000 Flying Pidgeon Stakes.

Little Mike was scheduled to launch his campaign two weeks earlier in the Grade 1 Woodford Reserve Turf Classic at Churchill Downs but was withdrawn the week of the race by owner-trainer Carlo Vaccarezza after state regulators decided to take a blood sample from the horse for out-of-competition testing. Little Mike’s blood sample tested negative. Vaccarezza also objected to the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission requiring him to pass the state’s trainer test to obtain his Kentucky license.

The Flying Pidgeon will serve as a prep for Little Mike’s first major goal of the season, the Grade 1 Manhattan at Belmont Park on June 7.

Track record set

Dekabrist, a son of Street Boss, set a track record in winning his debut by 15 1/4 lengths here Sunday. Owned by Raut LLC and trained by Gennadi Dorochenko, Dekabrist completed 4 1/2 furlongs in 51.31 seconds, breaking the old mark of 51.39 set by Lunarwarfare here in July. Dekabrist received a 90 Beyer Speed Figure.

Walder goes on tear

Linsey Toole, recently elected Ms. Racing Queen for the Stronach Group, has adopted the retired gelding Serafino from the barn of trainer Peter Walder. Serafino, a 3-year-old son of Bring the Heat, won once in five career starts.

Walder himself was red-hot Sunday, winning four races on Mother’s Day, three at Gulfstream and one at Calder. Two of Walder’s three Gulfstream winners were ridden by Edgar Prado, who returned to the saddle for the first time last weekend since fracturing his C-7 vertebra in a training mishap at Keeneland one month earlier.