Mula Gula back in training

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Grade 2 stakes-winner Mula Gula, who left the track last year after injuring a suspensory, has returned to training after standing the breeding season at a Washington farm.

A 5-year-old Lil E. Tee horse, Mula Gula covered mares at Ron and Nina Hagen's El Dorado Farms in Enumclaw, Wash., this year while recuperating from his injury. Farm officials would not disclose the number of mares he covered.

"We ultrasounded him after his layup and it didn't even look like he'd been injured," said Nina Hagen. "If there was ever a horse who could cover mares and then return to the track, he's the one. "

Mula Gula, whose record includes a third-place finish in last year's Grade 1 Arlington Million, left the farm in July and is now in trainer Jerry Hollendorfer's barn, according to a release his owner, Steve Gula, issued Monday. The release indicated that the horse would point for the World Thoroughbred Championships at Belmont on Oct. 27.