OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Saratoga Snacks denied Saginaw his opportunity to become the winningest horse in North America by himself in 2012 while giving trainer Gary Sciacca his first stakes victory in nearly six years.

Under jockey Ramon Dominguez, who missed the last month due to a foot injury, Saratoga Snacks led from start to finish to win Wednesday’s $75,000 Alex M. Robb Stakes for New York-breds at Aqueduct. Saratoga Snacks won by a length over longshot Socialsaul. It was 11 3/4 lengths back to Saginaw. Idle American and Swag Daddy completed the order of finish.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Trainer Nick Zito is never one to shy away from a challenge. If he did, he wouldn’t have won either the 2004 Belmont Stakes with Birdstone or the 2008 Belmont with Da’ Tara.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Trainer Marcus Vitali is off to a hot start during the opening month of the Gulfstream meeting. He’s hoping that hot hand will carry over to Friday’s $54,500 main event with Fact, who’ll step back up into entry-level allowance company to face eight rivals going a mile on the turf.

ARCADIA, Calif. – After an eventful summer, the 4-year-old colt Wilkinson makes his first start since May in the Grade 3 Daytona Stakes on the hillside turf course at Santa Anita on Saturday.

The layoff was caused by a bout with colic, which was not a serious setback, trainer Jeff Mullins said Wednesday.

The break may have done Wilkinson considerable good. In the last few weeks, Mullins has noticed that Wilkinson has thrived in training, and Mullins hopes the colt can play a major role in stakes for turf milers in 2013.

Little Polka Dot has placed in three stakes races this year, and by virtue of her record she fits the conditions of Friday night’s $70,000 Lookout at Delta Downs better than any of her eight rivals. The one-mile race is restricted to Louisiana-bred fillies and mares who have not won a stakes in 2012.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Though he recently shipped eight horses to Gulfstream Park for the winter, trainer Dominick Schettino kept a sizeable string in New York, with the promising Escapefromreality perhaps the best of the bunch.

Friday, Escapefromreality makes his second start following a solid debut win last month when he meets seven fellow New York-bred juveniles in a first-level allowance race carded for six furlongs at Aqueduct.

ARCADIA, Calif. – For now, the 2-year-old Super Ninety Nine is best known for being scratched from the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Sprint at Santa Anita in November.

He was found cast in his stall on the morning of the BC Juvenile Sprint, a setback that was not severe. He was the 5-2 second choice on the morning line.

Super Ninety Nine later finished second in the Grade 3 Hollywood Prevue Stakes as the 4-5 favorite on Nov. 22. He can further restore his reputation with a victory in a $58,000 allowance race over six furlongs at Santa Anita on Friday.

Check My Thoughts became the only two-time winner of a 2012 derby at Los Alamitos with his victory in the Grade 1 Southern California Derby last Sunday.

If he can duplicate the same feat in the tougher older horse division in 2013, Check My Thoughts will be rated among the top Quarter Horses on the circuit. It is a job worth trying, according to trainer James Glenn Jr.

“The horse is so good right now,” Glenn said on Sunday. “You can see it physically in how great he is doing. He has probably added 70 pounds in the last 90 days and he has the maturity of an older horse.”

Trainer Billy Morey was appointed to the Thoroughbred Owners of California board to fill a vacancy following the resignation of Ron McAnally.

The 38-year-old Morey, who earned a bachelor’s degree in economics from San Jose State University, assisted his father, Bill Morey Jr., for a number of years before starting his own stable in 2001. In 2010, he hit the 1,000-win mark. Morey has more than 30 horses in his barn and races in both Northern and Southern California.

The first stakes of the Golden Gate meeting, the $100,000 California Derby is two weeks away (Jan. 12). Zeewat, who won the one-mile Gold Rush in impressive fashion, looks like the top local contender in the 1 1/16-mile derby.

Trained by Jerry Hollendorfer, Zeewat has two stakes victories, having also captured the Cavonnier at Santa Rosa. Baze has been aboard for both stakes victories and suggested that Hollendorfer add blinkers before the Gold Rush.