ARCADIA, Calif. – Unrelenting rain in California, close to 10 inches at Santa Anita, continues to disrupt track condition and training schedules. For the second time in a week, Santa Anita has canceled an entire program.

Friday’s nine-race card was canceled, which follows the weather-related cancellation of last Sunday’s card. Santa Anita made the latest cancellation announcement Wednesday morning. The races that were scheduled for Friday could be brought back next week, with the addition of a card on Thursday, Feb. 15.

Stronghold was scratched from the Grade 3 Robert Lewis Stakes at Santa Anita last Saturday in favor of a scheduled start in the Grade 3 Sunland Park Derby on Feb. 18 in New Mexico.

Now, trainer Phil D’Amato needs the Southern California weather to cooperate in coming days to make the revised plan work.

Areas around Santa Anita, where Stronghold is based with D’Amato, sustained more than eight inches of rain from Saturday through late Tuesday, leaving the main track closed for activity from Sunday through Wednesday.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – The job he has done with older horses helped Bill Mott win his fourth Eclipse Award in 2023 as North America’s outstanding trainer. While horses like American Monarch, Nova Rags, and Authorize are unlikely to reach the heights attained by that of champions Cody’s Wish and Elite Power, they are certainly improving as they get older.

Friday, American Monarch and Nova Rags look to take the next step toward stakes company, while Authorize looks to build off his best race to date in separate allowance races on Aqueduct’s eight-race card.

Multiple Grade/Group 1 winner Mawj has been retired to join Godolphin’s broodmare band. The Exceed And Excel filly was ninth in the Group 1 Jebel Hatta last month at Meydan in what proved her career finale.

Two-time Eclipse Award champion female sprinter Goodnight Olive has been retired from racing and will be bred to rising young sire Not This Time.

Goodnight Olive was purchased for a co-sale-topping $6 million at Fasig-Tipton’s November mixed sale in Kentucky by John Stewart, who has become a major new player on the auction scene as he acquires stock to build a breed-to-race operation. Stewart initially announced his intention to campaign the Ghostzapper mare in 2024, and she did return to trainer Chad Brown’s Payson Park barn before the retirement announcement.

Dornoch, the Grade 2 Remsen winner, had his third work of the year Wednesday, breezing a half-mile in 49.10 seconds at the Palm Meadows training center in Florida. Dornoch, a full brother to 2023 Kentucky Derby winner Mage, is scheduled to make his 3-year-old debut in the Grade 2, $400,000 Fountain of Youth on March 2 at Gulfstream Park.

For the third straight time, Dornoch worked with the Barclay Tagg-trained turf maiden winner Marceau.

Second in the 2022 Kentucky Derby with Epicenter, who wound up champion 3-year-old, and fourth in the 2023 Derby with Disarm, trainer Steve Asmussen saw favored Carbone finish seventh last weekend in the Southwest Stakes at Oaklawn Park, one of four Derby preps on Feb. 3. One place in front of Carbone came the Asmussen-trained Otto the Conqueror.

A couple of key scratches are expected to change the complexion of Thursday’s $92,000 allowance feature at Gulfstream Park.

Kuramata, the morning-line favorite for the one-mile turf race – and a beaten favorite in his last four starts – has a foot abscess and will scratch, trainer Chad Brown said. The 8-year-old Runningwscissors also is expected to scratch, said trainer Fernando Abreu, who has won with his last three starters at the meet.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Although the connections of Valiant Force are eager to see what their horse might accomplish on dirt, circumstances have dictated that the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint runner-up remain on grass for the time being. The colt will finally launch his 3-year-old campaign against six rivals going five furlongs on the turf, weather permitting, in Wednesday’s $91,000 allowance feature at Gulfstream Park.