Stanley Hough back in action training for Sagamore Farm

Serious racing fans probably did a double-take when they saw Stanley Hough listed as the trainer of Barry Lee in the featured ninth race Friday at Churchill. The last starter for Hough was in April 2012 at Aqueduct.

Hough explained that he is part of the ongoing reconfiguration of racing operations at Sagamore Farm as overseen by president Hunter Rankin. Sagamore, the legendary Maryland breeding and racing farm owned by Under Armour tycoon Kevin Plank, still will maintain a presence with trainer Horacio de Paz in Maryland.

“I’ll have about 15 to 20 horses here through the end of November, then go to Palm Meadows (in Florida) for the winter,” said Hough.

Hough, 70, raced mostly in Florida and New York during an outstanding training career that began in 1969. His lifetime victory total stands at 2,166, and his numerous feats include winning the 1982 Japan Cup with Half Iced and being one of the first inductees into the Calder Hall of Fame in 1996.

Hough was stabled at Churchill in the late 1990s and early 2000s when training mostly for the late Bob “Country” Roberts. From 1976 to 2012, his horses won more than 140 stakes.

Mena, Court near returns

Jockeys Miguel Mena and Jon Court are nearing returns to the saddle following layoffs of varying length forced by injury.

Mena, 31, is probably still a couple of weeks away from riding races but recently began working horses at Churchill in the morning, including a five-furlong breeze Monday in 1:00.20 on the standout 3-year-old Bravazo for trainer D. Wayne Lukas. Mena has undergone months of intense rehabilitation since suffering a shattered heel and fractured ankle in a March 15 spill at Fair Grounds.

Court, 57, was expected back as early as Sunday after having been sidelined since breaking his collarbone in a motorcycle accident in late June.