Niassa may be the local favorite in the Feb. 7 California Oaks after a nine-length victory in a one-mile optional claimer here last Thursday.

That win improved her record at Golden Gate to 2 for 2. She won an allowance sprint here in November before running third in the $200,000 Soviet Problem at Los Alamitos on Dec. 7.

Trainer Billy Morey says Niassa is still a bit green, but he was impressed with the way she opened up on the far turn of Thursday’s race.

“She accelerated around the three-eighths pole,” he said. “That’s a style you like to see.”

The top four finishers in last month’s one-mile Gold Rush Stakes – Stand and Salute, Broughton Kitten, Sandor the Hound, and Rye Patch – are expected to hook up again in Saturday’s $100,000 California Derby at 1 1/16 miles.

Stand and Salute got first run on Broughton Kitten and held him off by a half-length in the Dec. 6 Gold Rush here. Three weeks later, Broughton Kitten rallied for fourth in the one-mile Eddie Logan on the turf at Santa Anita, and he will appreciate the extra sixteenth of a mile Saturday.

On Sunday night, Carolyn Mendes celebrated her 54th birthday by eating salmon rigatoni, lots of French bread (with butter!), and dessert.

Mendes earned her dinner: Earlier on Sunday, she had made her debut as a jockey, riding the 6-year-old Mount Zion in a $6,250 claiming race at Golden Gate Fields.

Bred by Mendes, Mount Zion finished last in the six-furlong race. Mendes had hoped to do better, but she felt a sense of satisfaction in accomplishing a goal she had set for herself last year.

Salutos Amigos, winner of three stakes in his last four starts, will most likely make his next start in the Grade 3, $150,000 Toboggan Stakes here on Feb. 7, trainer and part-owner David Jacobson said Sunday.

Jacobson had said either the Toboggan or the General George at Laurel Park were a likely next spot for Salutos Amigos, who is also under consideration for a trip to Dubai in late March for the $2 million Golden Shaheen.

“The Toboggan is probably where we’ll go,” Jacobson said. “I’m always leaning toward New York.”

When initially drawn last Wednesday for its scheduled running on Saturday, the $100,000 Busanda Stakes for 3-year-old fillies at Aqueduct drew a field of six with two of those horses being late supplements. The race was postponed when Saturday’s card was canceled due to weather and safety concerns.

The Busanda was rescheduled for Friday, and nine were entered when the race was re-drawn on Sunday.

Among those who had not been initially entered were Overprepared, Been Here Before, and Stolen Victory.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Trainer Shug McGaughey said he’s still considering the one-mile Gulfstream Park Handicap on March 7 at Gulfstream Park for Honor Code’s much-anticipated 4-year-old debut. Honor Code has not started since posting an eye-catching optional-claiming win going 6 1/2 furlongs at Aqueduct on Nov. 22. Honor Code has had two easy, three-furlong breezes at Payson Park since arriving in south Florida in early December.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Happy My Way will return to his favorite track when he launches his 2015 campaign in Saturday’s Sunshine Millions Sprint at Gulfstream Park. Happy My Way suffered his only setback in four local starts over the main track here last winter, when he finished second behind Ribo Bobo in the Sprint. He has been freshened since finishing a troubled second in the Frank J. De Francis Memorial Dash at Laurel on Nov. 15.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Despite a pedigree that suggests she might be best sprinting, Hot City Girl proved her ability to go two turns, winning a first-level allowance race for New York-breds by 2 1/2 lengths Sunday at Aqueduct.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – The outcome might not have been quite what he’d hoped for, but trainer Todd Pletcher was very pleased nonetheless with the performance turned in by Commissioner here Saturday in his first appearance since his second-place finish in the 2014 Belmont Stakes.

Commissioner finished third, beaten a head and a neck by Ulanbator and Looking Cool, going 1 1/16 miles under second-level allowance conditions on Saturday. Commissioner contested the pace from the outset and held gamely once relinquishing the lead at the top of the stretch.

OLDSMAR, Fla. - Fernando De La Cruz got off to a quick start at last year’s meeting and had a big lead in the rider standings when he suffered a broken wrist in a spill in late December, an injury that ended his hopes for winning the riding title for the 2013-14 meeting.