HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Pegasus World Cup Invitational runner-up Locked had his name added this weekend to the growing list of top-rated U.S. horses who will bypass the $20 million Saudi Cup this year.

Trainer Todd Pletcher confirmed that Locked, who overcame a somewhat eventful trip to finish a game but distant second to White Abarrio in the Pegasus World Cup, will forgo the Saudi Cup to await the Grade 1 Santa Anita Handicap on March 1.

In the days after Built struggled home second on Jan. 18 in the Lecomte Stakes at Fair Grounds, trainer Wayne Catalano deemed the horse an unlikely runner in the Risen Star Stakes. Built had scored a sharp victory a month earlier in the Gun Runner, and Catalano figured he’d bring a fresh horse into the Louisiana Derby on March 22.

But there’s been a change of plans. Built showed up in the entries when the Grade 2, $500,000 Risen Star was drawn Saturday, and Catalano said the intention is to run.

During the fall of 2023, Hoist the Gold won the Grade 2 Phoenix Stakes at Keeneland at odds of 6-1 and the Grade 2 Cigar Mile at Aqueduct as an 8-1 shot. He’ll be a tiny fraction of those prices Thursday at Fair Grounds, where Hoist the Gold makes his first start since June 29.

That sigh heard in South Florida late Sunday afternoon came from trainer Graham Motion after he watched Smart Union give him his first winner at the Gulfstream Park winter meet with his 28th starter.

Motion hopes it’s a harbinger of what’s to come at Gulfstream, where on Thursday he sends out logical contender Three Priests in a first-level allowance/optional $35,000 claiming race scheduled for 1 1/2 miles on the turf.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Steven Schauer has made a pretty nice transition from owner to trainer.

Schauer, who, as an owner raced under the moniker The Players Group, took his wife Carmen’s advice last year and took out his trainer’s license. After losing with his first six starters, Schauer has started 2025 with three wins from three starters.

“It’s challenging,” Schauer said. “So far, so good. I can’t complain.”

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Though Colloquial ran the fastest Beyer Speed Figure earned by a 3-year-old this year, his connections are not looking to make him into a Kentucky Derby candidate.

Colloquial, who earned a 106 Beyer for his seven-length romp at Aqueduct in a 6 1/2-furlong maiden race last Friday, will return to trainer George Weaver’s South Florida base at Palm Beach Downs this week and will likely be kept at one-turn races at least through the first half of the year.

ARCADIA, Calif. – On Sunday at Santa Anita, Straight No Chaser, the champion male sprinter of 2024, worked five furlongs in a quick 59 seconds. On Tuesday, Straight No Chaser was scheduled to be flown to Saudi Arabia for the Group 2 Riyadh Dirt Sprint on Feb. 22.

The difference in Sunday’s work compared to recent workouts was the presence of a stablemate, trainer Dan Blacker said.

“I gave him some company and gave him something to focus on,” Blacker said. Straight No Chaser “finished very well.”

ARCADIA, Calif. – Accomplished in stakes on turf and dirt in a lengthy but disrupted career, There Goes Harvard, winner of Saturday’s Grade 3 San Marcos Stakes at Santa Anita, could appear in a diverse list of races at Santa Anita this spring.

One short-term option is the Grade 3 San Luis Rey Stakes at 1 1/2 miles on turf on March 22. Later in the spring, the Grade 2 Hollywood Gold Cup at 1 1/4 miles on dirt is a possibility and a race the 7-year-old horse won in 2022.