Multiple stakes winners Alpha Bella and Express Train have been retired after losses in recent graded stakes, their trainers said Sunday.

Express Train won 7 of 28 starts and earned $1,640,300 for Lee and Susan Searing’s CRK Stable and trainer John Shirreffs. Shirreffs said that Express Train is scheduled to be sent to Kentucky, where the 8-year-old will be retrained under the supervision of Jen Roytz.

“He’ll retire,” Shirreffs said. “He’s done enough for us. I’d love to see him become a hunter-jumper.”

Oujda will be a short-priced favorite in the featured third race Thursday at Keeneland, but will this 5 1/2-furlong turf sprint be too short for Oujda?

The French-bred mare, who was imported to the United States from Ireland after Woodford Thoroughbreds bought her at a December 2024 auction for just less than $1 million, won the Aug. 2 Sweet Briar Too Stakes at Woodbine in her first start outside Europe, but that race came over six furlongs, as short as Oujda ever has raced.

Trainer Miguel Clement’s theory is that 3-year-old filly Backcheck simply didn’t try all that hard when she was beaten by 40 1/2 lengths in her return to the Aqueduct turf last month.

“I was very comfortable with her,” Clement said. “But after, I don’t like the fact that she recovered in less than 10 minutes from blowing, and that she drank less than a third of a bucket [of water]. I don’t like that, especially after an abysmal performance. They should at least be tired and she wasn’t the slightest bit distressed, so I had a big reservation.”

Three handicap races proposed for Friday’s program at Santa Anita based on a recently created rating system failed to draw sufficient interest when entries were taken Sunday.

Three ratings-based races will be offered for Saturday’s program, with slightly different conditions for two races. Track officials said ratings-based races will be offered for Sunday’s final day of the track’s autumn meeting. Entries for those days were scheduled to be taken on Monday and Tuesday.

Santa Anita is the first track in the nation to offer handicap races based on ratings.

The Keeneland track crew, led by superintendent Alfredo Laureano, has gotten positive reviews from horsemen for having the racetrack’s courses in good condition this meet, which followed a summer drought in Kentucky and has generally been run during a dry and warm October.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Speedy Freeze will try to rebound off a subpar performance in a first-level allowance scheduled for 7 1/2 furlongs on the inner turf on Thursday at Woodbine.

Speedy Freeze was an astute $23,500 claim last fall by trainer Ron Sadler for owners Linda Thiel and Harri Hosein. The stretch-running 4-year-old won her second start this year June 14 in an Ontario-sired allowance sprint on the main turf.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Though they each will have one more work before they ship west, trainer Todd Pletcher’s quartet of Breeders’ Cup Classic starters put in their last serious workouts Friday morning over the Oklahoma training track in Saratoga.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – A couple of South Florida-based fillies prepping for starts in the Breeders’ Cup, Lennilu and Be Your Best, had their connections smiling after turning in sharp workouts at the Palm Meadows Training Center on Thursday.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Toupie defeated Lifelovenlaughter fair and square in the Sensible Lady Turf Dash at Laurel last month. On Sunday, the two Maryland-based runners bring their talents to Queens when they rematch in the $150,000 Autumn Days Stakes going six furlongs over Aqueduct’s outer turf course.