OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Bold Journey could be making a bold journey for his next start.

Bold Journey, dominant winner of Saturday’s Gravesend Stakes at Aqueduct, is being considered for a Middle East trip for the Group 3, $1.5 million Riyadh Dirt Sprint, according to part-owner Adam Wachtel.

“If we got an invite I would want to go to Saudi Arabia,” said Wachtel, who co-owns Bold Journey with Pantofel Stable and Gary Barber. “I think he’s turned into a pretty serious horse. With all the retirements, there’s an opportunity in the division for him.”

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – From a handful of runners she had based at Finger Lakes in 2023, trainer Dana Saul currently has one stabled downstate for the winter. It’s a pretty good one in Missing Fortune, who portends to get a nice setup in Thursday’s second-level New York-bred allowance/optional $45,000 claiming feature going six furlongs at Aqueduct.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Invitations will be released Wednesday for the $3 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational, and there is a chance the top three finishers from last Saturday’s Grade 3 Harlan’s Holiday may not only be on that list but could meet again in the marquee race of the 2023-24 Championship meet on Jan. 27.

A couple of longshot winners in the Sunday sequence led to a $26,568 carryover in the pick five on Wednesday at Tampa Bay Downs.

The sequence, with a minimum wager of 50 cents, begins with race 5 (2:30 p.m. Eastern) and includes three turf races with oversubscribed fields.

Here’s a look at the sequence:

Race 5: An overflow field of 3-year-old fields is entered in this maiden $32,000 claimer scheduled for a mile on turf.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – The South Florida road to the Kentucky Derby kicks off each season on New Year’s Day at Gulfstream Park with the $100,000 Mucho Man Stakes. And this year is no exception, Monday’s special 10-race holiday program is headlined by the one-mile fixture for newly turned 3-year-olds and also includes its filly counterpart, the $100,000 Cash Run.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Trainer Brad Cox figures to be well represented in this circuit’s first stakes of 2024 next Saturday when he sends out Drum Roll Please in the $150,000 Jerome for 3-year-olds and Comparative in the $150,000 Ladies Stakes for older females at Aqueduct.

On Saturday morning, at Belmont Park, both put in their final workouts for those stakes engagements. Drum Roll Please went five furlongs in 1:02.42, going in company with Air Cav, who also is nominated but not expected to start in the Jerome.

ARCADIA, Calif. – Sweet Azteca blasted her way to an impressive win in a six-furlong maiden race in her debut at Churchill Downs last May, leaving high hopes she would have a productive 2023 season.

She missed another start in 2023 by a day.

Sweet Azteca will have her stakes debut in Monday’s Grade 3 Las Flores Stakes for fillies and mares at six furlongs at Santa Anita, the feature race on a nine-race New Year’s Day program.

Sweet Azteca, who will be ridden for the first time by Frankie Dettori, is expected to set the pace as she did at Churchill Downs.

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – A first look at the 3-year-old picture at Oaklawn Park comes Monday, when stakes winner Just Steel stretches out against a collective five route runners from trainers Steve Asmussen and Brad Cox in a well-matched renewal of the Smarty Jones.

The $300,000 race that carries eligibility points for the Kentucky Derby has had a makeover since last season. The purse is up by $50,000, and the distance of the race has been increased from a mile to 1 1/16 miles. The first five finishers in the nine-horse field will pick up points on a scale of 10-5-3-2-1.

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – The unbeaten fillies Tapit Jenallie and Denim and Pearls will both attempt to close 2023 in perfect form Sunday in the $200,000 Year’s End at Oaklawn Park.

The one-mile stakes is the richest offering on a card of 10 races for 2-year-olds. The offerings include the $150,000 Renaissance at six furlongs that drew Valentine Candy.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Midnight Stroll, the Grade 3 Delaware Oaks winner of 2022, suffered an apparent cardiovascular event that caused an instant death at the end of a gallop over the Belmont Park training track on Wednesday, trainer John Terranova said.

Terranova was training Midnight Stroll to a possible start in the Inside Information Stakes on Jan. 27 at Gulfstream Park.

“That filly was absolutely blossoming,” Terranova said. “It’s a big blow. That was the queen of the barn. I feel bad for everybody in the barn and all her owners.”