INGLEWOOD, Calif. – Smiling Tiger returned from a four-month break to finish a solid third in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint at Santa Anita on Nov. 3 as a 20-1 outsider.

He was beaten three lengths by upset winner Trinniberg and had the best finish of a California-based runner in the field of 14. That will make Smiling Tiger the favorite to win the eighth stakes of his career in Sunday’s $100,000 Vernon Underwood Stakes at Betfair Hollywood Park.

“He’s been training up a storm,” trainer Jeff Bonde said on Friday. “He should run his race.”

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Fifty Proof, who was voted Canada’s champion older male of 2011 following a campaign of four starts which concluded in late July, will be returning to the races here at Woodbine in Sunday’s $125,000 Sir Barton.

The Sir Barton, a 1 1/16-mile race for Ontario-sired 3-year-olds and upward, attracted a field of 12 and shares top billing on the 10-race program with the $125,000 Kingarvie Stakes.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Trainer Bob Tiller has a trio of geldings for Sunday’s $125,000 Kingarvie Stakes – Jade Dragon, Power Phil, and Smells Like Gold. A case could be made for all three of them in the 1 1/16-mile route for Ontario-sired 2-year-olds at Woodbine.

Jade Dragon was loaded for bear first time out in a 4 1/2-furlong maiden special June 3, which he won comfortably. He went to the sidelines after getting drilled in the June 30 Clarendon Stakes and was a well-beaten third against $40,000 claimers when he resurfaced Aug. 29.

The Ohio Racing Commission at its monthly meeting Thursday postponed assigning 2013 racing dates until its next meeting on Dec. 13.

One of the issues complicating the dates process is that River Downs may not be able to run its summer meet this year. River Downs typically races from early May until Labor Day.

Pinnacle Entertainment, which owns River Downs, plans to demolish the old grandstand and clubhouse and construct a new racino with up to 2,500 video lottery terminals. The construction process may make it difficult to race there this summer.

Horses that have raced, trained, or been stabled at Hawthorne Race Course during its fall meeting will not be allowed to enter the Tampa Day Downs backstretch, the track said in a Friday press realease.

An outbreak of equine herpesvirus has claimed the lives of four horses during the Hawthorne meet, which began Oct. 5 and runs through Dec. 30. Hawthorne horses have been under a state-imposed quarantine.

Perry Ouzts achieved another riding milestone on the Thursday night opener at Turfway Park when passing Johnny Longden and taking 16th place on the all-time wins list by riding two winners, giving him 6,033 in his 39-year career.

Ouzts won the fourth race aboard Sok Sok and the ninth on Wonka. Both horses are trained by Susan Anderson.

Owner Mike Repole said that Overdriven, his stakes-winning 2-year-old of 2011, has been retired due to a shoulder injury. Repole is looking for a home for Overdriven as a stallion in either New York or Kentucky.

Overdriven, a son of Tale of the Cat and a half-brother to the multiple Grade 2 stakes winner and millionaire Smooth Air, went 2 for 3 in his career and earned $129,750.

Nicole H, winner of stakes at Delaware and Penn National in her last two starts, may continue on her tour of the Mid-Altlantic region.

Trainer Mike Hushion said he is considering Nicole H for the $100,000 Willa on the Move Stakes at Laurel Park on Dec. 15.

Nicole H has won her last two starts, including the Endine at Delaware on Oct. 13 and the Daylily at Penn National on Nov. 21. In the Daylily she earned a 100 Beyer Speed Figure.

STICKNEY, Ill. – My Option ran well finishing second in her career debut on Polytrack and performed even better winning a turf race in the second start of her career, and if My Option’s form transfers to dirt, she should be a formidable favorite Saturday at Hawthorne in the $125,000 Pat Whitworth Illinois Debutante.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Though he will practice in south Florida, Remsen Stakes winner Overanalyze will play in New York to begin his 3-year-old season.

Trainer Todd Pletcher and owner Mike Repole both said Thursday that Overanalyze would most likely run in the Gotham and Wood Memorial at Aqueduct as his two prep races before the May 4 Kentucky Derby.

Though the New York Racing Association has yet to release its 2013 stakes schedule, the Gotham is expected to be run at 1 1/16 miles over Aqueduct’s inner track March 2 and the Wood at 1 1/8 miles over the main track April  6.