OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Effinex, winner of Friday’s Grade 1 Clark Handicap at Churchill Downs, returned to Belmont Park early Sunday morning and that’s likely where he will stay this winter, trainer Jimmy Jerkens said.

Though Jerkens sends most of his better horses to Palm Meadows in south Florida for the winter, Effinex will likely get a break before returning for a 5-year-old campaign. This year, he made his seasonal debut in a second-level allowance race over Aqueduct’s inner track before making his next seven starts in graded stakes.

Chocolate Ride was the best grass horse stabled at Fair Grounds last winter, winning the Fair Grounds Handicap and the Muniz Memorial, and he picked up this meet where he left off with a sharp allowance win Friday.

Tom Amoss has taken down more than his share of Fair Grounds training titles, but the biggest prize at Amoss’s home track, the $1 million Louisiana Derby, so far has eluded him. While early-season 3-year-olds aren’t the major focus of Amoss’s operation, he has two 2-year-olds about to turn 3 who might have a chance to give Amoss another shot in the Louisiana Derby in about four months.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Cavorting, winner of the Grade 1 Test at Saratoga, will try to strengthen her résumé and perhaps nab the Eclipse Award in the female sprint division when she runs in the Grade 1 La Brea on Dec. 26 at Santa Anita.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Junior Alvarado’s primary goal for this winter is to stay sound.

Each of the last two winters, Alvarado has missed significant time due to injury. With a top-flight Kentucky Derby contender in Mohaymen to look forward to in 2016, Alvarado hopes that both he and his horse remain healthy.

“The main thing is to try to stay sound,” Alvarado said, referring as much to himself as Mohaymen. “Sometimes, it’s just a matter of being lucky. So far, so good. I feel my best right now.”

Four months of winter racing at Turfway Park gets started Thursday evening when the northern Kentucky track runs a nine-race card with big fields from start to finish.

“We were swamped with stall applications, so hopefully that’s a sign we’ll have these big numbers all winter,” said Tyler Picklesimer, now in his third year as Turfway racing secretary. “It’s what fans want.”

Besides the stakes run at Churchill this weekend, there were some notable performances in overnight races, including three winners that helped Steve Asmussen extend his own record for the most training titles at the Louisville track.

Union Jackson and Wrath of Ruthie won first-level allowances, and a well-bet first-timer, Royal Obsession, looked terrific in a maiden score. They contributed to Asmussen’s win total of 13, marking the 17th time he has won or tied for leading trainer here.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – As always, racing fans can hold onto some indelible memories from the final week of the fall meet as stables begin leaving Churchill Downs for the winter.

A flurry of notable events took place here during the last few days of action, including victories by Carina Mia and Airoforce in the twin 2-year-old stakes Saturday, the Grade 2 Golden Rod and the Grade 2 Kentucky Jockey Club.

STICKNEY, Ill. – Commissioner ended his career Saturday with a 2 1/2-length win in the Hawthorne Gold Cup, and the next day was shipped directly to WinStar Farm in Kentucky to begin a stud career, but for the winners of the two undercard stakes Saturday at Hawthorne, Recount and Puntsville, racing life goes on.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – The mass exodus of this circuit’s top horses and horsemen was well under way Sunday and Monday as planes, vans, and automobiles were being loaded and directed south for the winter.

The good news is many of those same horses – and horsemen – will be headed back here in a few months, including Tonalist, Saturday’s Grade 1 Cigar Mile winner who will have a 5-year-old campaign in 2016.