HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Dirt or grass? Donn Handicap or Gulfstream Park Turf Handicap? Those are the questions trainer Todd Pletcher is hoping to get answered here Saturday when he sends out Mshawish against a strong field in the Grade 3 Hal’s Hope.

The Grade 1 winner Dads Caps, unraced since a third-place finish in the Grade 2 True North on Belmont Stakes Day, is expected to return to the races in the Grade 3, $150,000 Toboggan Stakes at Aqueduct on Jan. 17, trainer Rudy Rodriguez said Wednesday.

If so, he could run into a familiar nemesis in Salutos Amigos, who defeated Dads Caps in the Toboggan and two other inner-track stakes last winter. Trainer David Jacobson said Wednesday that he is considering flying Salutos Amigos back to New York from California for the Toboggan.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – On the same morning that La Verdad was named an Eclipse Award finalist for her accomplishments in 2015, she was entered to race in what is expected to be an abbreviated 2016 campaign.

La Verdad, a finalist for champion female sprinter, was supplemented to and entered in Saturday’s $100,000 Interborough Stakes at Aqueduct. Provided she runs well there, La Verdad most likely will be pointed to the $300,000 Barbara Fritchie Stakes at Laurel Park on Feb. 13.

ARCADIA, Calif. – Mokat grew up nicely during the Del Mar autumn meeting last year. The filly beat maidens in her first start on turf and at a mile Oct. 31 and was second to Family Meeting in the Grade 3 Jimmy Durante Stakes at a mile on turf Nov. 28.

Mokat runs in Friday’s seventh race at Santa Anita, an optional claimer at a mile on the main track. She could stay on dirt if she runs well.

Trainer Richard Baltas said he is worried about what the track will be like because of recent rain.

“I wish it wouldn’t be an off track,” Baltas said.

ARCADIA, Calif. – With division leader Nyquist weeks away from a start, trainer Doug O’Neill has ample time in January to run several of his other 3-year-old prospects.

On Saturday at Santa Anita, O’Neill plans to have three starters in the $100,000 Sham Stakes at a mile – Found Money, Sorryaboutnothing, and Semper Fortis. O’Neill is holding Frank Conversation out of the race in favor of the $100,000 California Derby at Golden Gate Fields on Jan. 16.

“It’s a good bench behind Nyquist,” O’Neill said.

ARCADIA, Calif. – Of the eight projected runners in Saturday’s $200,000 San Pasqual Stakes at Santa Anita, Hard Aces is the only Grade 1 winner in Southern California in 2015.

His upset win in the Grade 1, $500,000 Gold Cup at Santa Anita in June defined the season for Hard Aces. He later finished sixth in three consecutive Grade 1 races – the Pacific Classic at Del Mar, the Awesome Again Stakes at Santa Anita, and the Breeders’ Cup Classic at Keeneland on Oct. 31.

Paul Espinosa Jr., the new announcer at Charles Town, which begins its 2016 season Thursday, realizes what a great opportunity he is being given. At age 26, this will be his first job as a race-caller.

The hiring of Espinosa also seems like a pretty good deal for Charles Town. Espinosa grew up nearby and has been attending the local races as often as possible since he was about 11. He cares deeply about the track and its people and seems like a perfect fit for the job.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Churchill Downs officials on Tuesday released the stakes schedule for their 2016 spring meet, with the most notable change being the renaming of the former Firecracker Handicap in honor of Wise Dan, the Horse of the Year in 2012 and 2013.

The Wise Dan remains a Grade 2, $200,000 race for 3-year-olds and upward on the turf, with its distance now lengthened from a mile to 1 1/16 miles. It has been moved from closing weekend of the meet to the June 18 Stephen Foster card.

There was no press release when one of the most productive jockey-trainer combinations in Southern California quietly dissolved in late 2015.

Rafael Bejarano has ridden only three horses for Jerry Hollendorfer since November. The last winner for the pair was more than two months ago on Oct. 24. The apparent split is notable at Santa Anita, where Bejarano and Hollendorfer have been the most productive jockey-trainer team over the past three winter meets combined, with 58 wins from 157 starters.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Saturday was an awesome day in the local 3-year-old division, with Awesome Banner cruising to a convincing and popular victory in the Grade 3 Hutcheson Stakes and Awesome Speed doing likewise in the one-mile Mucho Macho Man. However, it appears that neither will come back in the first major 3-year-old race of the meeting, the Grade 2 Holy Bull, later this month.