OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Away from the work tab for a month, Art Collector worked a half-mile in 49.20 seconds Friday morning at Payson Park and is back in the mix for the Pegasus World Cup at Gulfstream Park on Jan. 28.

Art Collector hasn’t raced since finishing fifth in the Grade 2 Lukas Classic at Churchill Downs on Oct. 1. He was at one time being considered for the Cigar Mile at Aqueduct, but was hampered by a foot problem, trainer Bill Mott said.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Mariachi, a 3 1/2-length winner of a six-furlong maiden race here Nov. 26, will point to the $150,000 Jerome Stakes for newly turned 3-year-olds here Jan. 7.

Mariachi, a New York-bred son of Maclean’s Music, finished second on debut, beaten a half-length by Don’tlosecruz while finishing eight lengths clear of the rest of the field. Mariachi came back to win his maiden emphatically, earning an 85 Beyer Speed Figure.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Topped by the Grade 2, $750,000 Wood Memorial for 3-year-olds and the Grade 1 Carter Handicap for older male sprinters, there will be 14 stakes worth $2.775 million offered at the 2023 Aqueduct spring meet, according to a schedule released Friday by the New York Racing Association.

The stakes program mirrors the 2022 spring meet with a tweak here and there.

Canterbury Park in Shakopee, Minn., will run 54 live race days of mixed Thoroughbred and Quarter Horse racing in 2023, a schedule that was approved Thursday by racing regulators in the state.

Fair Grounds will attempt to run turf races for the first time during its 2022-23 racing season on Dec. 26, the 22nd day of their race meeting.  

OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Midnight Stroll, expected to ship to Southern California Thursday for the Grade 1 La Brea Stakes at Santa Anita on Dec. 26, did not make the trip and won’t run, according to assistant trainer Tonja Terranova.

Midnight Stroll worked a half-mile in 48.65 seconds Thursday morning at Belmont Park, but Terranova said the horse seemed “a little flat” afterward and she didn’t feel comfortable putting the horse on the plane.

“We’re going to skip,” Terranova, assistant to her husband John, said.

Colonial Downs in New Kent, Va., will run on a Thursday-through-Saturday live racing schedule next year, the first season under new owner Churchill Downs Inc., the company announced on Wednesday after getting regulatory approval for the 2023 meet.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - The 132-day Woodbine meet wrapped up Sunday with a record all-sources handle of $620 million, according to Woodbine Entertainment commercial president Michael Copeland.

The 126-day 2023 meet is scheduled to begin on Saturday, April 22, pending regulatory approval by the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario.

Geovanni Franco, who has ridden in Arkansas, Kentucky, and Indiana in recent months, will resume riding in California for the first time in slightly more than a year later this week, according to his new agent, Jack Carava.

Franco plans to ride the final weekend of the Los Alamitos December meeting on Friday through Sunday and prepare for the start of the Santa Anita winter-spring meeting that begins on Dec. 26, Carava said.

ARCADIA, Calif. – Taiba on dirt and Balnikhov on turf are among the most conspicuous nominees (i.e., likely favorites) to six graded stakes scheduled for the Dec. 26 opening-day card at Santa Anita.

Nominations were released this week for the winter-meet opening day card that includes three Grade 1, $300,000 stakes and three Grade 2, $200,000 stakes. Taiba is the early favorite for the Grade 1 Runhappy Malibu at seven furlongs; Balnikhov likewise racing a mile on turf in the Grade 2 Santa Anita Mathis Mile. Both races are for 3-year-olds.