ARCADIA, Calif. – Mudflats had two widely diverse races in consecutive starts at Aqueduct this winter.

An emphatic win in a maiden race over seven furlongs in December was followed by a confusingly poor seventh in the Grade 2 Jerome Stakes over a mile and 70 yards on Jan. 5. The loss has dented plans of running Mudflats around two turns in a major stakes for 3-year-olds in coming weeks, an opinion that could be reversed if the gelding runs well in the $150,000 San Vicente Stakes over seven furlongs at Santa Anita next Sunday.

Charlie Lopresti can hardly wait to get started on another year of racing.

Lopresti, who guided Wise Dan to the 2012 Horse of the Year title and two other Eclipse Awards, is excited about the prospects that 2013 holds not only for Wise Dan, but also for Successful Dan and Turallure, whose campaigns last year were compromised by injury.

“They’re all doing awesome,” Lopresti said Friday.

AUBURN, Wash. – Emerald Downs announced dates for its 2013 meeting on Friday. Among the changes: The elimination of Thursday cards, a later post time for Friday twilight racing, and an overall reduction of six racing dates from a year ago. At 75 days, it will be the shortest meeting at Emerald Downs since the suburban Seattle track opened in 1996.

For the 15th time in as many years, the mutuel field is the favorite in Pool 1 of the Kentucky Derby Future Wager, which closed Sunday at 6 p.m. Eastern following a three-day run that drew a combined handle of $621,493.

Hurricane Lake has a good chance to win the first stakes race of his career Sunday when he takes on six others in the $50,000 Curribot at Sunland Park. The 1 1/16-mile race is for 3-year-olds and upward.
Others set to start include Ol Winedrinker Who, winner of the $150,000 Zia Derby in December, and Red Lead, a multiple stakes winner of nearly $700,000.

The Grade 1-placed filly Magical Moon will be getting a second chance to show she can handle dirt in Sunday’s $47,000 feature at Fair Grounds. Her first experience on dirt didn’t go so well.

Debuting in a five-furlong maiden race last June at Churchill Downs, Magical Moon finished fifth, beaten by 6 3/4 lengths.

“We don’t know why she ran like that the first time,’’ trainer Al Stall Jr. said. “It was a bad race to boot. Maybe she doesn’t like the dirt, but I’d be shocked if she doesn’t.’’

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Will Take Charge on Friday took another step toward a start in the Grade 3, $300,000 Southwest when he breezed an easy five furlongs in 1:00.80 at his Oaklawn Park base. The move was the second fastest of 23 at the distance. The Southwest is the second leg of Oaklawn’s series for 3-year-olds, and is to be run Feb. 18.

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.