OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Jockey Junior Alvarado will be out at least three months after sustaining a broken left ankle in a gate mishap just prior to the start of Sunday’s $100,000 East View Stakes at Aqueduct.

Alvarado, tweeted a photo of the ankle Sunday night and wrote that it was broken in three places. After meeting with his personal physician on Monday, Alvarado was scheduled to have surgery to repair his ankle Thursday.

OLDSMAR, Fla. – While a number of trainers and jockeys have returned to the Maryland circuit to take advantage of the big boost in purses brought about by new gaming laws in that state, a couple of Maryland mainstays opted to head south to Tampa Bay Downs for the winter.

Trainer Dane Kobiskie and jockey Erick Rodriguez are racing here for the first time and bring strong credentials with them.

Golden Gate Fields opens its 2013-14 racing season Thursday and is caught up in the ripple effect of the makeover of the Southern California racing calendar.

With the closing of Hollywood Park, Golden Gate Fields and Santa Anita, both owned by the Stronach Group, hold all the state’s racing dates until the start of the Northern California fair season at Pleasanton on June 19.

ARCADIA, Calif. – Forgive trainer Jim Cassidy if he is eager to turn the calendar to 2014. Considering the events of the past year, on and off the track, there are a lot of reasons to look ahead.

FLORENCE, Ky. – Albin Jimenez not only leads the jockey standings at the ongoing holiday meet at Turfway Park, but he has to be considered a big favorite for the longer winter-spring meet that follows.

Jimenez, 22, has been gaining favor with well-known horsemen who have left horses in Kentucky for four months of winter racing, including Mike Maker, Charlie LoPresti, Kellyn Gorder, and Tom Drury. Through Thursday night, Jimenez led the holiday meet with 11 wins.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Along with the usual satisfaction that goes with winning three races on one card, trainer Linda Rice had further reason to be excited about going 3 for 3 Thursday at Aqueduct. When La Verdad won a $72,000 allowance race, it was Rice’s 100th win of 2013, making this the first time in her 27-year training career she reached that plateau.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Harlan’s Holiday’s legacy got a boost earlier this week with the performance of one of his progeny, the promising 2-year-old filly Duff One, who rallied to an impressive allowance victory over the odds-on Ready to Act in Thursday’s ninth race. Joel Rosario was aboard.

Duff One, stakes placed this summer on the turf at Saratoga, is trained by Gary Contessa, who had a good run on the grass here last winter with the 3-year-old Rydilluc.

“Obviously, we’ve always liked her,” Contessa said. “You can see by the way we’ve placed her in stakes.”

Al Stall Jr. was expecting to have a fairly quiet Christmas with his family in his native New Orleans, but the excitement quotient got turned up a few notches Thursday when he sent out a promising 2-year-old named Unknown Road to a rousing victory at Fair Grounds.

Unknown Road, making his second career start, took what was touted beforehand as a very deep six-furlong maiden race and quickly turned it into a one-sided affair, leading throughout to prevail by 11 3/4 lengths and earning a 98 Beyer Speed Figure.