NEW ORLEANS – You can still find 57-year-old David Carroll out on the Fair Grounds oval most every morning doing what he has done since he was a 6-year-old in Ireland – riding horses.

Carroll has wintered at Fair Grounds for the better part of two decades. Things right now are both better and worse than they were a year ago.

Worse because Carroll, his stable down to a handful of modest runners, finally gave up being a head trainer at the end of the 2015-16 Fair Grounds meet, but better because he has settled comfortably into his job as an assistant to trainer Mark Casse.

ARCADIA, Calif. – The recent wet weather in Southern California has forced trainers to work around the rain, but even though Arrogate’s preparation for the $12 million Pegasus World Cup on Jan. 28 at Gulfstream Park could have been more severely impacted, he looked sensational during an extended gallop Wednesday at Santa Anita as he nears his final prerace workout this weekend.

ARCADIA, Calif. – Gormley and Mastery, a pair of Grade 1-winning 3-year-olds, both worked a half-mile Wednesday in preparation for stakes, which might even include a head-to-head matchup.

Gormley, the winner of the Grade 1 FrontRunner Stakes last fall, went in 51.20 seconds under Victor Espinoza in his first drill since capturing the Sham Stakes on Jan. 7. Trainer John Shirreffs said Gormley could run next in the Grade 3, $150,000 Robert B. Lewis Stakes on Feb. 4 or await the Grade 2, $400,000 San Felipe Stakes on March 11.

“He came out of the race well,” Shirreffs said.

ARCADIA, Calif. – The Grade 1 winner Ralis has replaced the stakes-placed Semper Fortis as a starter for owners Paul and Zillah Reddam in the $12 million Pegasus World Cup at Gulfstream Park on Jan. 28.

Trainer Doug O’Neill said they made the decision after watching the two train.

Semper Fortis will be redirected to the $400,000 Poseidon Stakes on the Pegasus World Cup undercard. Both races are run at 1 1/8 miles on dirt.

“We swapped those two,” O’Neill said on Wednesday. “Ralis is doing a little bit better.”

ARCADIA, Calif. – Melatonin, the winner of two Grade 1 races in 2016 who was fifth in the Breeders’ Cup Classic in November, has been taken out of training because of a foot issue, trainer David Hofmans said this week.

Hofmans said Melatonin is scheduled to leave his stable for a four-month break at a local farm.

“We’ll be ready for the fall,” Hofmans said. “It’s been one little problem after another.”

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Though Stallwalkin’ Dude finished third behind Green Gratto in Monday’s Grade 3 Toboggan Stakes, trainer and co-owner David Jacobson still hopes the gelding can make it to Dubai for the $2 million Golden Shaheen on March 25.

Jacobson is considering sending Stallwalkin’ Dude to Santa Anita for the Grade 2, $200,000 Palos Verdes Stakes on Feb. 4 as a prep for Dubai. Jacobson said he first wants to evaluate how Stallwalkin’ Dude comes out of the Toboggan, in which he was beaten just a neck after being forced to steady entering the far turn.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – That Aqueduct’s inner track has been kind to inside speed lately doesn’t just favor certain horses, it favors certain riders.

Kendrick Carmouche is known as an aggressive rider, and his style certainly has paid dividends this winter at Aqueduct. Last week, Carmouche won 7 races from 22 mounts, including three stakes, at Aqueduct. He has moved into a tie for third in the inner-track standings with 19 wins, five behind leader Irad Ortiz Jr.

ARCADIA, Calif. – The itinerary is set, one that covers the nation from Fort Lauderdale, Fla., to suburban Los Angeles with Kruljac men.

On Saturday, when Finest City starts in the $200,000 Santa Monica Stakes at Santa Anita, trainer Ian Kruljac will saddle the mare in her first start since an upset win in the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint in November.

Across the nation, his father, Eric, will be overdressed, by his standards, appearing on behalf of his son and client Tyler Seltzer at the Eclipse Awards at Gulfstream Park in Florida.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Breaking Lucky turned in his final prep for the $12 million Pegasus World Cup on Wednesday at Palm Beach Downs, working five furlongs in 1:00.40 under exercise rider Christian Rivera. The work came 10 days out from the Pegasus World Cup, to be run here Jan. 28.

“Everything was perfect, just what the doctor ordered,” said trainer Reade Baker. “I told the rider to go between 1:00 and 1:01, and he hit it right on the head. He went his final quarter in 23 and 3 and galloped out in 1:13 and 3.”

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – The send-off for You Bought Her won’t be nearly as big as the one California Chrome will receive a week from Saturday at Gulfstream Park, but it’ll be a sentimental farewell for trainer David Hinsley nonetheless.

You Bought Her, a 7-year-old mare with $505,945 in career earnings, is expected to make her 48th and final start here Saturday in the Sunshine Millions Distaff before going to the breeding shed with – you guessed it – California Chrome.