HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Pianist defeated a stakes-quality field under allowance conditions when she captured the main event over the turf on Thursday. Pianist, a 4-year-old daughter of More Than Ready trained by Chad Brown, rated off the early pace of Baffle Me before wearing that rival down en route to a 1 3/4-length victory, the fourth win on the card for jockey Javier Castellano.

A pair of late-season stakes for New York-bred 2-year-olds are the only changes planned for the 2013 season at Finger Lakes Casino and Racetrack.

As additions to the 13 stakes presented in 2012, the Tin Cup Chalice for colts and geldings and the Shesastonecoldfox for fillies will be contested as part of a stakes triple-header on Sept. 28. Both races will be contested at six furlongs and be worth $50,000.

As usual, the season’s highlights will be the $200,000 New York Breeders’ Futurity on Sept. 28 and the $150,000 New York Derby on July 20.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Discreet Dancer, who had been idle since finishing third behind Union Rags as the odds-on favorite in the 2012 Fountain of Youth, made a triumphant return on Wednesday when he rallied to a hard-fought head decision over Candyman E in a second-level optional claiming dash. He covered the six furlongs in 1:09.34 and earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 98.

Trainer Todd Pletcher said that if Discreet Dancer comes out of the race well he could come back in the Grade 2 Gulfstream Park Handicap at a mile on March 9.

Jockey Kayla Stra, who gave birth to a son in November, won the first race of her comeback in Thursday’s fourth race aboard Wild in the Saddle.

The victory was not without a few anxious moments. Wild in the Saddle ($19.60) won the six-furlong race for $12,500 claimers by a head over No Tricks for Jack. The result was subject to a stewards’ inquiry regarding close contact between the two, but the order of finish was not changed.

The presence of a pesky No Tricks for Jack, who was ridden by Tyler Baze, was more of a fear for Stra than the inquiry.

New York Racing Association steward Braulio Baeza Jr. has been appointed chairman of the newly established Equine Safety Review Board, which will review and assess fatal equine racing and training injuries at Aqueduct, Belmont, and Saratoga.

Tampa Bay Downs has barred a private veterinarian, Dr. Orlando Paraliticci, from its grounds, the track’s general manager, Peter Berube, confirmed Friday.

Paraliticci was barred Feb. 3, Berube said. He declined to discuss the reasons behind the order, but said that the track’s decision will be discussed during a hearing that will be held “sooner rather than later.”

Paraliticci did not immediately respond to a phone message left at his veterinary practice.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Trainer Dale Romans picked up the pace a little earlier this week with Dullahan, sending his three-time Grade 1 winner out to breeze a half-mile in 48.68 seconds on Wednesday. It was just Dullahan’s second breeze since he returned to training here last month.

California sisters Dawn and Rhonda List were at the 2011 Ruidoso Quarter Horse yearling sale in New Mexico when their trainer Paul Jones insisted they inspect a Louisiana-bred prospect with modest bloodlines.

“Paul said, ‘I like this horse,’  ” Dawn List recalled on Thursday. “We didn’t know much about his breeding, but he was a good-looking animal.”

The “good-looking animal,” by Jess Louisiana Blue, cost $18,000 and is named Creole Williams. He’s turned out to be a good-looking racehorse.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Though his future may ultimately be as a distance horse on turf, West Hills Giant recorded the biggest victory of his 2-year-old season sprinting on the dirt.

Sunday, when West Hills Giant makes his 3-year-old debut, it will come in a dirt sprint in the $75,000 Java Gold Stakes at Aqueduct. Though cross-entered in Saturday’s one-mile Miracle Wood Stakes at Laurel Park, West Hills Giant will run in the Java Gold, trainer John Terranova said Friday. With only five entrants, the Java Gold is carded as race 3 on the nine-race program.

On a foggy Wednesday morning, Golden Soul worked five furlongs in 1:00.60 at Fair Grounds in preparation for the Risen Star on Feb. 23. Trainer Dallas Stewart said Golden Soul worked six furlongs in 1:14 and change.

Golden Soul, making his stakes debut in the Lecomte in his third start, made a late run to finish second to Oxbow, who set a comfortable pace and wasn’t threatened in an 11 1/2-length victory. Oxbow is expected back for the Risen Star.