HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla.– Trainer Brad Cox appears to have all the bases covered, sending out the speedy Velvet Vortex and late-running Trouble in Love as the two likely favorites in Sunday’s $58,000 allowance feature at Gulfstream Park. The race drew a field of seven fillies and mares to go six furlongs but will scratch down to no more than six with Necessity having run in the Rampart Stakes on Friday instead.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – One of the keys to success as a trainer is placing your horses in the right spots. When it comes to Aqueduct in 2025, few trainers have done that at a higher percentage than Wesley Ward.

Ward has gone 14 for 25 with four stakes wins at Aqueduct in 2025. In addition to that success locally, Ward is on a general heater over the last month. Since Nov. 26, he has won 13 races from his last 24 starters at five tracks.

“We’re on a roll,” Ward said. “You got to savor those wins because it can go the other way just as quick.”

Butch Reid is predictably well-prepared for another juvenile stakes at Parx Racing on Tuesday. The Pennsylvania-based trainer has three colts entered in the $75,000 Future Stars male division, including Mailata, the likely favorite coming off a sharp victory in the $100,000 Pennsylvania Nursery.

“We were undecided on whether we wanted to come back at seven-eighths again, but this spot is right here in our backyard, so I think we’re going to go ahead and take advantage of it.” Reid said.

Latte Luv, who starts in Monday’s $100,000 Blue Norther Stakes on turf at Santa Anita, is a filly with a developing racing style.

Latte Luv won her second start, and first on turf, in a one-mile maiden race at Santa Anita on Oct. 3 by leading throughout.

In the Grade 3 Jimmy Durante Stakes at a mile on turf at Del Mar on Nov. 29, Latte Luv started from the inside post and closed from fourth of 11 to finish second by 2 1/2 lengths.

Atsila will make a delayed United States debut in Sunday’s Grade 1 American Oaks for 3-year-old fillies on turf at Santa Anita.

A stakes winner in Ireland in May, Atsila was 20-1 on the morning-line for the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf at Del Mar on Nov. 1, but was withdrawn on race morning on veterinary advice.

Eight weeks later, Atsila may be favored to win the most prestigious race of her career in the $300,000 American Oaks at 1 1/4 miles.

Nysos is expected to end a near-perfect 2025 season with a win in Sunday’s Grade 2 Laffit Pincay Jr. Stakes at Santa Anita. He is the 3-5 favorite on the morning line and the only millionaire in a field of seven.

The race is a likely bridge to the $20 million Saudi Cup in Saudi Arabia on Feb. 14 for a 4-year-old colt who last month affirmed his position as one of the nation’s leading older horses with a hard-fought win in the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile at Del Mar.

ARCADIA, Calif. – A Grade 2 stakes Monday on the hillside course at Santa Anita would provide an ideal middle ground for a pair of turf specialists whose running styles are as different as their upcoming campaigns.

However, little is ideal about the first weekend of the winter meet. A punishing storm has already forced a two-day postponement of the opening-day card and threatens conditions of the Joe Hernandez Stakes that was rescheduled for Monday.

ARCADIA, Calif. – Even though it is a mere Grade 2 turf race, limited to 3-year-olds and usually with a small field, the Mathis Mile often leads to success at the highest level.

Mathis winners who subsequently won Grade 1s against older include Gio Ponti, Bowies Hero, River Boyne, Smooth Like Strait, and King of Gosford. It’s a good list.

ARCADIA, Calif. – The show starts late this season at Santa Anita, two days late, which is no big deal for four late-developing Bob Baffert trainees entered in the Grade 1 Malibu Stakes.

Due to a severe rainstorm, Santa Anita tweaked tradition by postponing the meet opener from the day after Christmas until Sunday. Delayed gratification perhaps, for fans and horses. Baffert 3-year-olds absent from Triple Crown races in spring will try to make up for it in winter.

ARCADIA, Calif. – Given that favorites never win the Grade 1 La Brea Stakes, a low-odds filly named for the world’s fastest roller coaster could be up against it Sunday at Santa Anita.

But there is a problem for bettors fading program favorite Formula Rossa in the La Brea. Formula Rossa, who earned a field-high 98 Beyer Speed Figure two starts back, happens to be fastest in the field of 3-year-old fillies racing seven furlongs in race 8 on Sunday, which is opening day.