Overnight purses at upcoming meetings at Los Alamitos and Santa Anita will be lower than the corresponding seasons a year ago, with declines ranging from 7 to 23 percent in some categories, according to condition books recently published by both venues.

At the six-day Los Alamitos December meeting, which begins on Dec. 6 and runs through Dec. 15, a purse for a maiden race will be worth $39,000, down 13.3 percent from $45,000 during the same season in December 2023. Purses for such races were $41,000 at the track’s summer meeting and $40,000 at the September meeting.

Perhaps only a national politician can admire jockey Flavien Prat’s itinerary this week. No athlete has Prat’s schedule in such a short period of time.

After riding two winners at Mahoning Valley in Ohio on Monday, Prat had four mounts at Zia Park in New Mexico on Tuesday, finishing second in two stakes.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – The well-traveled Mi Bago, whose four career starts have come at four different racetracks, will take his road show to Gulfstream Park for the first time Friday and figures to go postward one of the favorites in the $115,000 Pulpit Stakes. The Pulpit will be decided at 7 1/2 furlongs on turf, weather permitting, and lured a full and very competitive field of 11 juveniles, four of whom will be making their local debuts.

Copper Tax, unbeaten in three starts at Laurel Park, faces elders for the first time on Friday in the Richard W. Small for 3-year-olds and upward at 1 1/8 miles. The Small is one of two $100,000 stakes on the program. Both were originally scheduled for last Saturday, but racing at Laurel was abandoned last week due to concerns about the condition of the dirt track.

Trained by Gary Capuano, Copper Tax reeled off victories in Laurel’s Private Terms and Federico Tesio during the spring.

Blue-collar geldings in a Grade 2 on turf, and a budding star in a first-level allowance for fillies and mares on dirt, command attention when closing weekend of the Del Mar autumn meet commences Friday.

For bettors, the most appealing race Friday is the 1 1/2-mile Hollywood Turf Cup. Contenders among 10 remaining entrants include favorite Truly Quality, upset candidate Dicey Mo Chara, and the Phil D’Amato-trained trio of Divin Propos, Balnikhov, and Rockemperor.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – A better post position and a smaller field are two of the reasons trainer Brad Cox has chosen to run Giant Mischief in Friday’s $150,000 Fall Highweight Stakes at Aqueduct rather than Thursday’s $225,000 Thanksgiving Classic at Fair Grounds.

In the six-furlong Fall Highweight, Giant Mischief will break from the outside post in what was drawn as a nine-horse field but is likely to lose at least one horse as Witty was scheduled to run in a stakes at Parx on Wednesday. At Fair Grounds, Giant Mischief drew the rail in a field of 11.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – A challenging pick four, with an average field size of 10.25 horses, seems hittable Friday at Woodbine when using the 20-cent minimum denomination. The sequence begins with a $7,500 maiden-claiming sprint for fillies and mares.

DEL MAR, Calif. – Boosted by an outstanding opening weekend in late October and early November, trainer Mark Glatt is on the verge of his first training title in slightly more than a year at Del Mar this fall.

Through Sunday, the 13th day of the 16-day season that ends Sunday, Glatt leads all trainers with 12 wins from 30 starters, an impressive 40 percent win rate. Phil D’Amato is second with seven wins from 51 runners.

“Anytime you’re the No. 1 that’s a good thing,” Glatt said between races Sunday. “It’s a credit to my owners and a credit to my team.

The Grade 3, $300,000 Cardinal Stakes, for fillies and mares on the Churchill Downs turf, has been won the past two years by foreign-bred mares. Last fall, Irish-born Star Fortress won the race in her first start in the United States; the year before, German-bred Dalika, who had been racing stateside for some years, took the event. The last time the race was won by a horse bred in the United States was in 2019 – the race was not contested in 2020 or 2021 – when Kallilo, trained by Brendan Walsh, won.

Kentucky dirt holds the key for a Uruguayan mare in the Falls City Stakes on Thursday at Churchill Downs.

The Falls City, a Grade 3 worth $400,000, carded for fillies and mares at 1 1/8 miles, drew eight entrants. The field lacks standouts, and while Tarifa at 9-5 and Musical Mischief at 2-1 fit the spot, neither horse seems worth a bet at those prices.

It’s a good bet Quatro Y Vinte won’t be nearly as high a price as the 30-1 at which the morning line pegs her. Still, at even at a third of those odds, Quatro Y Vinte merits a look.