OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Racing at Aqueduct will move from the inner track to the main track on March 21, two weeks earlier than scheduled, according to P.J. Campo, vice president and director of racing for the New York Racing Association.

Campo said he and Glen Kozak, NYRA’s vice president of facilities and racing surfaces, had been discussing the possibility of opening the main earlier due to the unseasonably mild and dry winter.

The main track was scheduled to open on April 4, but there would have been only 14 racing cards scheduled through the end of the meet, April 22.

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – A handful of runners that were nominated to Saturday’s Grade 2, $500,000 Rebel Stakes at Oaklawn Park have instead landed in a first-level allowance that highlights the card Friday. Unbridled’s Note, Kid Sidney, and Ring It Up should all start as top contenders in the 1 1/16-mile race that goes with a field of 11.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Based on the way he has started 2012, the reigning two-time Eclipse Award-winning jockey Ramon Dominguez is certainly not resting on his laurels.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Que Posse and Driven by Solar, both returning from lengthy layoffs, head an interesting field of older sprinters entered in Friday’s $64,000 featured second-level optional $50,000 claiming race at Aqueduct.

Eight horses were entered in the six-furlong race, but three of them – Driven by Solar, Overcommunication, and Starforaday – are part of a three-ply entry from owner Mike Repole. On Wednesday, Repole said he planned to run Driven by Solar and Overcommunication.

Havre de Grace will break from post 2 and is scheduled to face four rivals in her 2012 debut on Saturday at Fair Grounds in the $150,000 New Orleans Ladies Stakes. Ramon Dominguez, her regular rider, will travel to New Orleans to ride Havre de Grace.

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Whether trainer John Servis will have his first Kentucky Derby starter since winning the race in 2004 with Smarty Jones could be determined over the next nine days. His most advanced 3-year-old prospects are scheduled to see action in two key preps, with Adirondack King on deck for the Grade 2, $500,000 Rebel Stakes at Oaklawn Park on Saturday, and Ill Conceived being pointed for the Grade 3, $500,000 Vinery Racing Spiral at Turfway on March 24.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Trainer Kathy Ritvo said Mucho Macho Man came out of his victory in Saturday’s Grade 2 Gulfstream Park Handicap in good order but that plans for his next start remain up in the air.

Mucho Macho Man has served notice he will be a major player in the handicap division this season after his victories over Ron the Greek in the Florida Sunshine Millions Classic and both Tackleberry and Jackson Bend in the one-mile Gulfstream Park Handicap.

ARCADIA, Calif. – One of the reasons Bob Baffert rose so quickly through the ranks of Thoroughbred trainers, all the way to the Hall of Fame, is that he relies so much on instincts. Like a quarterback who comes to the line of scrimmage and calls an audible, or a basketball player who feels he’s in the groove and launches up shot after shot that hit nothing but net, Baffert’s approach to training is far more art than science.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Gemologist and Currency Swap, two of the more highly regarded members of the 2-year-old class of 2011, will make their belated 3-year-old debuts against one another in Friday’s $80,000 allowance feature at Gulfstream Park. The main event, which could ultimately serve as a Kentucky Derby prep for one or both horses, drew a field of only five 3-year-olds and will be decided at one mile.

Safe Trip always has been cut out to be a good horse, having won a Churchill Downs maiden race by 7 1/2 lengths in his second career start early in his 3-year-old season for Gary and Mary West. Now 5, the chestnut gelding has been turned over to Bret Calhoun and will make his first start for the two-time Breeders’ Cup-winning trainer when he will be favored Friday evening in a $53,000 allowance at six furlongs at Fair Grounds in New Orleans.