The highest Beyer Speed Figure earned at the current Oaklawn meet is a 99. Gulfport, one of three runners to have put up the number this season, shares the distinction with Happy Is a Choice and Full Screen.

Happy Is a Choice beat Gulfport by a neck in the Ring the Bell Stakes on Dec. 7 at Oaklawn. One start prior, Gulfport won the Bet On Sunshine at Churchill Downs.

Trainer Steve Asmussen said Gulfport emerged from the Ring the Bell in good order and will now target the $150,000 King Cotton on Jan. 25 at Oaklawn.

Sandman will begin preparations for the first graded race in Oaklawn Park’s series for 3-year-olds after closing out his initial season of racing with an impressive allowance win over the local surface on Dec. 13.

Sandman bounded to a 1 3/4-length victory over first-level allowance foes, earning a career-high Beyer Speed Figure of 89.

It was a breakout performance, and his target now is the Grade 3, $1 million Southwest Stakes on Jan. 25, according to trainer Mark Casse.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – What goes around doesn’t always come back around on the racetrack. But it has in the case of the 7-year-old veteran Lure Him In, who returned to trainer Sam Wilensky’s barn earlier this fall after having joined colleague Saffie Joseph Jr.’s potent stable via a private sale last winter.

Trainer Larry Rivelli’s second season stabled at Fair Grounds has started better than his first.

Rivelli wound up winning eight races during the 2023-24 Fair Grounds meet after moving most of his horses north well before the end of the racing season. This time, Rivelli already has six winners from just 13 runners during the meet’s first month.

“Last year, we did it on a whim. This year, we’re planting our flag,” Rivelli said.

The 3-year-old colt Mystik Dan, winner of the Kentucky Derby in May, is about to set off on a long journey from New Orleans to Southern California. The 3-year-old filly Two Sharp, winner of the Chilukki Stakes in November, is not.

Tejano Twist is at his best with a quick pace to run down, and it’s difficult to assess whether he will get a favorable scenario in Friday’s ninth race at Oaklawn Park.

The $1.4 million earner is part of a field of 10 for a conditioned allowance at six furlongs that includes fellow Grade 3 winner Ryvit, as well as stakes winners Run Classic, Our Last Chance, Edge to Edge, and Kavod. Raise Cain and Osborne both are entered back in a one-mile allowance Saturday at Oaklawn.