HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Big Blue Kitten will return to graded stakes company after registering a half-length optional claiming victory over Summer Front in Sunday’s co-feature. Big Blue Kitten, who had finished third in the Grade 2 Fort Lauderdale in his 2013 debut, circled the field while rallying around the final bend under Javier Castellano before wearing down the pacesetting Decisive Moment for his second win in three tries at the meet.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Rudy Rodriguez’s decision to leave Vyjack in New York this winter had everything to do with the gelding’s state of mind.

So, while Rodriguez took about a dozen horses to sunny and sometimes-warm southern Florida – including his top 3-year-old filly, My Happy Face – Vyjack was left behind to endure the harsh winter weather of Queens and Aqueduct’s overly scrutinized inner track.

“He’s a little mental – that was the main reason,” Rodriguez said Sunday. “We didn’t want to go to Gulfstream. Aqueduct is like a private training center.”

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – One day after his courageous nose victory over Saturday’s Charm in the Grade 3 Tom Fool Handicap at Aqueduct, Comma to the Top was flown to south Florida on Sunday morning. But there are no plans to run him in Saturday’s Gulfstream Park Handicap.

“Definitely not,” trainer Peter Miller said Monday morning.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Fort Larned completed preparations for his much-anticipated 2013 debut in the Gulfstream Park Handicap by breezing five furlongs in 1:01.30 on a very chilly Monday morning at Palm Meadows. Fort Larned completed his final quarter in 24 seconds before galloping out six furlongs in 1:13.20, according to clocker Bryan Walls.

Fort Larned will carry high weight of 124 pounds in the one-mile Gulfstream Park Handicap.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – The popular Mucho Macho Man, who has made Gulfstream Park his winter headquarters for the past two seasons, has left town for his new home at the Fair Hill training center in Maryland. Trainer Kathy Ritvo shipped Mucho Macho Man out on Monday morning along with several other members of her stable.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Can Dreaming of Neno handle the turf? That might be the key to solving Wednesday’s $57,500 main event at Gulfstream Park, a race scheduled to be run at five furlongs on the grass under second-level optional claiming conditions.

OLDSMAR, Fla. – Saturday’s Festival Day will have three stakes races on the program, but the one most of the fans at the track and around the country will be most interested in is the Grade 3, $350,000 Tampa Bay Derby.

For years, sharp horsemen and savvy handicappers have come to learn that having at least one strong race over Tampa’s somewhat sandy and tiring surface can help a horse get ready for the first Saturday in May.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Can you say Derby Fever?

It’s certainly hard to blame trainer Gary Contessa and the connections of Rydilluc if they don’t start getting a little excited over the prospects of putting their 3-year-old on the Kentucky Derby trail after his eye-catching 3 1/2-length victory over Charming Kitten in Sunday’s $150,000 Palm Beach at Gulfstream Park.

Suggestive Boy, who has emerged as California’s top turf miler in the last five weeks, is expected to stay in California for his next start, trainer Ron McAnally said Sunday.

Saturday, Suggestive Boy won his first Grade 1 stakes in the United States in the $300,000 Frank Kilroe Mile. Last month, the 5-year-old Argentine-bred won the Grade 2 Arcadia Stakes over a mile on turf.

Suggestive Boy, who gave McAnally his 700th career win at Santa Anita, won three consecutive Group 1 races in Argentina in 2011 before being sent to California.

ARCADIA, Calif. – Flashback, the unbeaten 3-year-old, had a tougher test than expected in a Sunday morning workout at Santa Anita.

A leading contender for Saturday’s $300,000 San Felipe Stakes, Flashback worked five furlongs in 59 seconds, the fastest of 63 recorded works at the distance. But the circumstances of the stretch run of the workout were not what jockey Julien Leparoux and trainer Bob Baffert envisioned.