OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Coming off a solid showing at the Aqueduct fall meet, trainer Nick Esler hopes to build on the momentum and expand his business during Aqueduct’s winter meet, which begins with Wednesday’s opening of the inner-track meet.

Esler, 31, had a record of 4-2-2 from 11 starts during Aqueduct’s fall session, his best performance since going out on his own in spring 2012. He currently has 11 horses in his care in Belmont Park’s barn 5, but he’s “looking to fill up the empty stalls,” he said.

OLDSMAR, Fla. – Dale Bennett’s instructions to jockey Eduardo Perez before Saturday’s $69,000 Inaugural Stakes were simple.

“I told him, ‘Just run ’em off their feet,’ ” Bennett said.

And that’s exactly what Perez did aboard Cool Cowboy, as they raced three wide to the turn of the six-furlong race head-and-head for the lead, then swept to the front, and the rest, as they say, was history. The speedy colt scored by 3 1/2 lengths for his third win from five career starts, but as his trainer pointed out Monday, he worked for it.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Jose Sea View staked his claim for Canadian champion 2-year-old honors Sunday at Woodbine with a hard-fought win over Coltimus Prime in the $134,250 Display Stakes. Those two protagonists hooked up on the lead on the backstretch and then dueled throughout the lane before Jose Sea View prevailed by a neck in the 1 1/16-mile event.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. – The field for the $750,000 CashCall Futurity at Betfair Hollywood Park this Saturday grew over the weekend with the addition of the outsiders Brother Soldier, Electric Eddie, Karma King, and Sheikinator to the list of projected entrants.

Sheikinator, a maiden race winner at Churchill Downs on Nov. 16, would be a second runner in the Grade 1 CashCall Futurity for Kentucky-based trainer Ken McPeek. He plans to start Rankhasprivileges, who was third in the $1 million Delta Downs Jackpot in Louisiana on Nov. 23.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Each long journey begins with one small step. And so it was for Mucho Macho Man, who took the first tiny step toward defending his Breeders’ Cup Classic championship next fall at Santa Anita by working an easy three furlongs in 37.64 seconds Saturday at Gulfstream Park.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. – Bond Holder was set for a quiet end of the year after a fourth-place finish in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile at Santa Anita on Nov. 2.

Trainer Doug O’Neill and owners Paul and Zillah Reddam intended to rest Bond Holder until 2014, a plan that changed when the colt resumed workouts in late November. A series of sharp works has put Bond Holder on schedule for the $750,000 CashCall Futurity at Betfair Hollywood Park on Saturday.

For Paul Reddam, it’s a chance to win a race that his lending company sponsors.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Game On Dude, second in the Grade 1 Clark Handicap at Churchill Downs on Nov. 29 and California’s leading older horse this year, is likely to make his 2014 debut in the $300,000 San Antonio Stakes over 1 1/8 miles at Santa Anita on Feb. 8.

“That’s the most logical spot,” trainer Bob Baffert said on Friday.