NEW ORLEANS – Thank goodness the equine herpesvirus outbreak that began late last December at Fair Grounds was, in the scope of such things, minimal. Only one horse was seriously afflicted, and the actual spread of the more serious neurologic strain of the disease was quickly contained. But the effect on the Fair Grounds meet was fairly catastrophic. The whole track came under a state-mandated quarantine, meaning no horses could ship in to race, and at the situation’s peak, about 350 horses on the backstretch were quarantined in their individual barns and unable to race.

Trainer Phil D’Amato said that the top sprinter Ransom the Moon had been turned out after finishing fifth in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint.

Ransom the Moon scored his biggest win of the year in the Grade 1 Bing Crosby here July 29. He also was fourth Oct. 7 in the Grade 1 Santa Anita Sprint Championship to Roy H, who also won the Breeders’ Cup Sprint.

“He’s been turned out for 30 days,” D’Amato said. “We squeezed a bunch of races into a short amount of time. Now we’ll look forward to a 2018 campaign.”

Hunt possible for Seabiscuit

Radio Silence was among the nominees for the Hollywood Derby, but he will aim a little lower and instead go in a one-mile grass allowance in race 8 on Saturday in search of his first victory in the United States.

The highly regarded Radio Silence, who previously raced in Ireland, was sixth in his first start in this country as the 3-2 favorite Oct. 14 at Santa Anita.

“He had a rough trip. I’m still pretty high on him,” trainer Richard Baltas said Thursday. “He’s headstrong, and got stuck last time. He was running over top of them.”

DEL MAR, Calif. – There’s no telling where trainer Tom Proctor will be any given morning at this time of year. He’s got horses at Del Mar preparing for stakes next week, and is getting a string settled in at Fair Grounds. He had runners last week at Laurel and Aqueduct, and this winter will have his usual contingent at Tampa Bay Downs, in addition to those he runs at Gulfstream Park.

Jose Ortiz, a leading contender for the Eclipse Award as North America’s outstanding jockey, will undergo minor knee surgery on Dec. 5 and miss at least six weeks of action, his agent, Jim Riccio Jr., said Wednesday.

Ortiz injured his left knee in a spill at Belmont Park on Sept. 20, which forced him to miss a week of action. While Ortiz is not riding in pain, Riccio said doctors advised him to have his knee “cleaned up.” The goal is to have Ortiz return by the end of January, hopefully in time to ride the $16 million Pegasus World Cup on Jan. 27 at Gulfstream Park.

DEL MAR, Calif. – The $100,000 Desi Arnaz Stakes for 2-year-old fillies on Saturday at Del Mar could be a springboard to the Grade 1 Los Alamitos Starlet three weeks hence. The Starlet is the race in which Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies runner-up Alluring Star will make her next start.

“She came out of the Breeders’ Cup really well,” trainer Bob Baffert said of Alluring Star, who worked a half-mile in 48.20 seconds on Wednesday at Santa Anita.

The Arnaz, at seven furlongs, was expected to attract Dream Tree, Midnight Bisou, and Ms Bad Behavior, among others.

DEL MAR, Calif. – Flavien Prat, the meet’s leading rider and winner earlier this month of the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile aboard Battle of Midway, will represent the United States in an international jockey championship at Happy Valley racecourse in Hong Kong on Dec. 6, it was announced on Wednesday by the Hong Kong Jockey Club.

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DEL MAR, Calif. – Greyvitos, upset winner of the Bob Hope Stakes for 2-year-olds last weekend, has earned a berth in the Grade 1 Los Alamitos CashCall Futurity on Dec. 9, trainer Adam Kitchingman said.

Greyvitos added blinkers for the Bob Hope and led from start to finish, winning for the first time in three starts. He earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 92.

The Bob Hope was at seven furlongs. The Los Alamitos Futurity is at 1 1/16 miles. But this will be the second start for Greyvitos going two turns, as he made his debut going one mile on turf in July at Santa Anita.

MIAMI – Seven were entered for Friday’s $43,000 feature, a first-level optional claimer at five furlongs on the turf.

Trainer Brendan Walsh is among the early arrivals from Kentucky to have shipped a string to the Palm Meadows training center for the winter, and he’ll send out Zandar as the likely favorite should the race stay on the grass. Zandar won a higher-priced optional claimer going 6 1/2 furlongs over the Kentucky Downs grass course on Sept. 6 for his first win of the season and first since joining Walsh’s stable during the summer.

MIAMI – Nominations for the 2017 Claiming Crown were released earlier in the week, which means opening day of the 2017-18 Gulfstream Park Championship meeting is right around the corner.

For the sixth consecutive year, the Claiming Crown will kick off the meet. The Claiming Crown lured 294 nominations, including those of four defending champions – Super Spender (Canterbury), Tormenta de Oro (Glass Slipper), Chepstow (Iron Horse), and Shaft of Light (Rapid Transit). The Claiming Crown will consist of nine races worth more than $1.1 million in purses.