LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Brian Hernandez Jr., who has become a perennial top-five rider on the Kentucky circuit, is making a major change in his winter schedule. Hernandez will ride at the Gulfstream Park championship meet, which starts Dec. 1, forgoing his annual pilgrimage to Fair Grounds in his native Louisiana.

“A lot of our top outfits are headed to Florida, so we thought we’d give it a shot,” said Hernandez’s longtime agent, Frank Bernis, referring to trainers such as Kenny McPeek, Rusty Arnold, and Ian Wilkes.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – You might have thought trainer Chris Hartman had a perfect day by going 3 for 3 on Wednesday at Keeneland, but nope. At the same time, Hartman was going 0 for 3 at Indiana Grand, throwing a tiny wet blanket over an otherwise glorious afternoon.

“Plus, I should’ve killed ‘em at the windows at Keeneland,” Hartman lamented. “I just couldn’t put anything together the right way.”

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – A 21-day fall meet highlighted by the first Breeders’ Cup at Churchill Downs in seven years will get under way Sunday with a Stars of Tomorrow card of all 2-year-old races reflecting a sizable increase in everyday purses at this historic track.

The Pennsylvania Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association will raffle off halters worn by Songbird and Arrogate to benefit the Turning for Home horse retirement program at Parx Racing.

Raffle tickets are $10 and can be purchased at the Turning for Home Office, its merchandise tables at Parx, or online at https://patha.org/halter-raffle.

The raffle will be held Breeders’ Cup Saturday (Nov. 3) at 3 p.m. in the Parx grandstand.

David Osojnak is settling in as the new director of racing at Parx and assessing where improvements can be made at the Bensalem, Pa., track.

Osojnak replaces Sam Elliott, who left Parx in April. Assistant racing secretary Tom Creel filled in during the interim.

ELMONT, N.Y.– Kharafa, the $1.2 million-earning New York-bred, has been retired and will join his old friends Lubash and King Kreesa at Old Friends, a retirement farm in Lexington, Ky., trainer Tim Hills said.

Kharafa, 9, finished sixth in the Mohawk Stakes last weekend on Empire Showcase Day in his 52nd career start. He had a record of 13 wins, 13 seconds and 9 thirds and earned $1,238,622.

ELMONT, N.Y. – Trainer Todd Pletcher pre-entered eight horses in the Breeders’ Cup, with Current among those with the best chances of winning a race.

Current worked a solid five furlongs in 1:01.01 over the Belmont Park main track Thursday in preparation for his start in the $1 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf on Nov. 2. Jockey John Velazquez was aboard for the move in which he went his first three furlongs in 36.84 seconds and his final quarter in 24.17. Current galloped out six furlongs in 1:13.90, and seven furlongs in 1:26.85.

A good horse has a way of coming along when he’s needed most, and Whitmore, one of the favorites in the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Sprint on Nov. 3, has proven to be the best of elixirs for his co-owner and trainer, Ron Moquett.

The 47-year-old Moquett was diagnosed with atypical sarcoidosis in March. The complex autoimmune condition can impede organ function, impair breathing, cause general fatigue – and then disappear into permanent remission. It led to a brief hospital stay for Moquett, as well as a sequestered recovery period to protect and strengthen his respiratory system.

ARCADIA, Calif. – A year ago, Blackjackcat was third in the Breeders’ Cup Mile at Del Mar as a 19-1 outsider, the end of a successful 2017 season.

Saturday, Blackjackcat will start in an allowance race with a $75,000 claiming option at Santa Anita in his first start since June. The optional claimer, run at about 6 1/2 furlongs on the hillside turf course, is designed to give Blackjackcat a start before he resumes running in stakes.

ARCADIA, Calif. – As a young man growing up in Newmarket, England, around the turn of the millennium, Simon Callaghan devoted a Saturday evening each fall to watching the Breeders’ Cup races from various American racetracks.

“I was fascinated with the Breeders’ Cup,” Callaghan recalled last weekend outside his stable at Santa Anita. “It was an amazing spectacle.”

Watching the Breeders’ Cup unfold from venues such as Gulfstream Park, Churchill Downs, and Belmont Park in those years helped Callaghan determine that he wanted to be part of American racing.