ARCADIA, Calif. – Clubhouse Ride is running in a stakes at Santa Anita on March 8, and there is no shortage of races to choose from.

“I can say with certainty he is going to run that day,” trainer Craig Lewis said.

A decision on which race may not be made until next Wednesday, when entries are due. Lewis has three options for the 6-year-old horse – the $750,000 Santa Anita Handicap at 1 1/4 miles on dirt, the $350,000 Frank Kilroe Mile on turf, and the $250,000 San Carlos Stakes at seven furlongs on dirt.

Hard Not to Like, idle since her seventh-place finish in the Grade 1 Spinster on Oct. 6, will return to the turf to launch her 2014 campaign under allowance conditions at Gulfstream Park in Friday’s $54,500 main event carded at 1 1/16 miles on the grass.

Hard Not to Like is no stranger to the local course, having won the Grade 3 Marshua’s River here last winter. She was also Grade 1-placed at 3, finishing second in the Ashland as a prelude to her sixth-place finish in the Grade 1 Kentucky Oaks.

Trainer Bill Kaplan was extremely pleased with East Hall’s fourth-place finish in Saturday’s Grade 2 Fountain of Youth at Gulfstream, a performance that earned the improving 3-year-old five Kentucky Derby qualifier points. East Hall overcame a terrible starting position – post 12 on the extreme outside – and speed-favoring course to rally from last to finish 6 1/2 lengths behind Wildcat Red and General a Rod in the 1 1/16-mile Fountain of Youth. East Hall had finished third behind the same pair in the Gulfstream Park Derby on Jan. 1.

The main local prep for Turfway Park’s showcase event will be run Saturday at the Florence, Ky., track, where 11 3-year-olds will go postward in the $100,000 John Battaglia Memorial.

The 1 1/16-mile Battaglia comes three weeks before the Grade 3, $550,000 Spiral Stakes, a 1 1/8-mile race worth 50 Kentucky Derby qualifying points to the winner.

From the rail, this is the Battaglia field: Poker Player, Solitary Ranger, Canzoni, Emmett Park, Red River Rising, Laddie Boy, Kids Rule, General Jack, Empower, Chester’s Park, and Harry’s Holiday.

The $300,000 Zia Park Oaks, which was introduced last year, will be renewed Nov. 26 as part of a $1.1 million card of seven stakes at the Hobbs, N.M., track. Zia Park, which opens a mixed meet Sept. 6, released its stakes schedule Wednesday. The track will race 56 dates through Dec. 2.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – In its early years, the seven-furlong Swale was considered a major Kentucky Derby prep. The list of notable 3-year-olds to have won or placed in the Swale, from its inception in 1985 through 1990, included Chief’s Crown, Creme Fraiche, Seeking the Gold, Easy Goer, and Summer Squall.

It’s been a while since the Swale has had any Derby implications. But such could be the case on Saturday when Breeders’ Cup Juvenile runner-up Havana launches his 3-year-old campaign against six rivals, including the undefeated No Nay Never, in the Grade 2 Swale.

The Usual Q.T., a millionaire and five-time stakes winner, was euthanized earlier this month after a lengthy battle with illness.

The Usual Q.T. was retired in early 2012 and had resided at a local farm, according to trainer Jim Cassidy. In recent months, The Usual Q.T. was diagnosed with peritonitis, an inflammation of the membranes lining the abdomen and intestines.

ARCADIA, Calif. – For a two-time former winner, Game On Dude needs a big race in the $750,000 Santa Anita Handicap on March 8 to restore his standing in the handicap division.

Game On Dude won the 2011 and 2013 Big Caps but will be the third choice at best for this year’s race. He is overshadowed by the presence of Mucho Macho Man and Will Take Charge, the first two finishers of the Breeders’ Cup Classic here in November.

“He’s a supporting actor,” trainer Bob Baffert said of Game On Dude on Wednesday.

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Rick Porter of Fox Hill Farm said he has privately purchased 50  percent interest in Texas Two Step, an impressive 3-year-old debut winner at Oaklawn Park that he will race in partnership with the WinStar Farm operation of Kenny Troutt. Porter on Wednesday said the horse will be shipped to trainer Chad Brown at the Palm Meadows training center in Florida.

Brown trains Normandy Invasion, the fourth-place finisher in last year’s Kentucky Derby, for Porter.

CYPRESS, Calif. – It’s easy to look up to Raul Valenzuela Jr., the leading Quarter Horse rider at Los Alamitos this winter.

The 20-year-old jockey stands 5 feet 11 inches, tall for even a Quarter Horse rider who can tack a few more pounds than their Thoroughbred counterparts. Valenzuela, a native of Arizona, rides at 120 pounds and typically has mounts with weight assignments of 124.