NEW ORLEANS – What turned out to be a practice race Nov. 30 at Fair Grounds for the 5-year-old gelding Paddy’s Notes set him up to win last Sunday for trainer Tim Glyshaw. The victory was the second of the weekend for Glyshaw in starter-allowance/optional-claiming races.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Wildcat Red, who closed out his 3-year-old campaign with a third-place finish in the Sunshine Millions Classic Preview at Gulfstream Park West, just stretched his legs a bit through an easy half-mile in 52.26 seconds here Friday under regular exercise rider Peter Shelton.

Wildcat Red won 3 of 10 starts and earned almost $850,000 this season, with his most important victory coming in the Grade 2 Fountain of Youth here Feb. 22.

NEW ORLEANS – There’s life in those old legs yet, Gantry showed Thursday, when he rallied past solid allowance foes on turf to win for the first time since March.

A 7-year-old gelding with career earnings of more than $800,000, Gantry had been off form since winning the Colonel Power Stakes at the end of the last Fair Grounds meet. Returning from a five-month layoff in the Thanksgiving Handicap, he ran a nonthreatening fifth, his third consecutive subpar performance.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Lost among all the hoopla of opening week here was the result of the Jockey Challenge held at Hipodromo La Rinconada in Caracas, Venezuela, on Dec. 6. Jocy Gomez pulled off a major upset, winning the competition over a field that included John Velazquez, Javier Castellano, Alex Solis, and Ramsey Zimmerman.

CYPRESS, Calif. - Los Alamitos announced Thursday that it has released the purse of the $972,100 Los Alamitos Super Derby for Quarter Horses, run on Nov. 22, despite trace-level positives in pre-race tests for the bronchodilators clenbuterol and albuterol among several the 10 finalists. Clenbuterol and albuterol both have muscle-building qualities in addition to helping aid breathing.

CYPRESS, Calif. – Taris, the winner of the Grade 2 Raven Run Stakes at Keeneland in October, is in training at Santa Anita for a scheduled start in the $300,000 La Brea Stakes for 3-year-old fillies at Santa Anita on Dec. 26, the opening day of the winter-spring meeting.

Taris is trained by Simon Callaghan on behalf of Susan Magnier, Derrick Smith, and Michael Tabor. The filly was purchased at the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky sale last month for $2.35 million. By Flatter, Taris has won 4 of 5 starts. The Raven Run Stakes is the most prestigious win of her career.

CYPRESS, Calif. – Preparations for the 2015 season began in earnest for California Chrome on Thursday, when the star 3-year-old worked a half-mile in 48.20 seconds at Los Alamitos for the upcoming Santa Anita winter-spring meeting.

Trainer Art Sherman has targeted the $500,000 San Antonio Stakes at Santa Anita on Feb. 7 as the first start of the year for California Chrome, a leading candidate for the 2014 Horse of the Year title. California Chrome ended his 2014 season with an emphatic win in the Grade 1 Hollywood Derby on turf at Del Mar on Nov. 30.

The major players all were entered in the expected spots Wednesday, when the Louisiana Champions Day card was drawn for Saturday.

Sunbean will be favored to nail down another Champions Day Classic, while String King seeks his third win in the Champions Day Turf and Heitai his second straight victory in the Champions Day Sprint.

The Classic drew just five entrants and was placed early on the card due to the short field, going as race 4. First post Saturday is early, too, with the first of 12 races going at noon Central. The program starts with three Quarter Horse stakes.

Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs, Ark., will waive its $2 general admission fee for the upcoming meet, which opens Jan. 9, according to a release.

Oaklawn president Charles Cella made the move to mark the completion of an 18-month expansion of the track’s gaming center, and in appreciation of fans of the 110-year-old track.

W V Jetsetter, who earned a career-high Beyer Speed Figure of 89 for his win in a division of the Texas Stallion Stakes last month at Retama Park, likely will make his next start at Gulfstream Park. Trainer George Weaver said the Florida-based horse might run in the $100,000 Mucho Macho Man at a mile Jan. 3.

“I imagine we’ll try something locally,” said Weaver, adding that plans are to keep track of upcoming Texas-bred stakes for the horse. “We’ll keep an eye on Sam Houston.”

W V Jetsetter this summer ran third in the Grade 2 Saratoga Special at Saratoga.