Dale Capuano became the 27th trainer in North American racing history to win 3,000 races when he sent out Father Mudd to capture the ninth and last race Thursday at his home track, Laurel Park in Laurel, Md.

Capuano, 49, was greeted with signage and a special presentation in the Laurel winner’s circle following the two-length triumph by Father Mudd, a 4-year-old gelding bred and owned by Steven Newby. Kevin Navarro was aboard Father Mudd, who returned $12.40 as third choice in the $5,000 claiming sprint.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – With the elation of her Breeders’ Cup victory and disappointment of her aborted trip to Argentina now in the rearview mirror, Perfect Shirl will finally begin her 2012 campaign when she takes on a full field of long-distance, filly and mare turf specialists in Saturday’s $100,000 The Very One at Gulfstream Park.

So far, the most noteworthy race in the career of Thiskyhasnolimit was one he lost, a second-place finish to Lookin At Lucky in the 2010 Indiana Derby. But from the appearance he made winning the Louisiana Handicap on Jan. 21, his first start since July, Thiskyhasnolimit might not yet have hit his ability’s limit.

Isn’t He Clever, who tested graded stakes rivals last out in Southern California, has returned home to New Mexico for Saturday’s $150,000 Borderland Derby at Sunland Park. The 1 1/16-mile race, which has received a purse boost of $50,000, is the local stepping-stone to the Grade 3, $800,000 Sunland Park Derby on March 25.

The Borderland will go with seven horses, among them Zackn’mat, a maiden special weight winner at Santa Anita last month for trainer Marty Jones, and Tequila Factor, a multiple stakes winner who last fall was 14th in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf.

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Comedero put on a show in the Nodouble Breeders’ Stakes a year ago at Oaklawn Park, when he won the Arkansas-bred sprint by 10 lengths with a Beyer Figure of 100. He’s back to defend his title Saturday, but late last year his appearance in the six-furlong race was in doubt. Comedero was hit with a severe infection in what became a two-month ordeal for the graded stakes winner, who has earned more than $600,000.

“We’re just happy we got him back to the races,” said Michael Stidham, who trains Comedero for Peter Redekop.

ARCADIA, Calif. – Mizdirection has a nearly perfect record in turf sprints, which will make her a short-priced favorite in Saturday’s $70,000 Clocker’s Corner Handicap at Santa Anita.

In four starts in such races, she has won three times and finished a troubled second in the other race.

“With any luck, she should be an unbeaten turf sprinter,” trainer Mike Puype said.

[MORE: PPs and video previews for the Saturday card at Santa Anita]

Chamberlain Bridge won the 2010 Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint and started off his 2011 season with a stakes win, and all seemed well in the world of one of the country’s top grass dashers. By the end of 2011, that had changed. Chamberlain Bridge took some tough trips and experienced some bad luck, but he lost six straight races after that first victory last year. After getting wiped out on the turn in the 2011 Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint, Chamberlain Bridge clunked home fourth in a Nov. 24 Churchill allowance race, and it seemed fair to wonder if Chamberlain Bridge had nowhere to go but down.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – In college basketball, midseason meetings between the number one- and number two-ranked teams are well-hyped, often meaningless, and usually long forgotten by the time the Big Dance rolls around. On the Kentucky Derby trail, confrontations between the number one and two prospects 10 weeks in advance of the main event are rare, highly anticipated, and a bit more relevant – but perhaps no real harbinger of what to expect on the first Saturday of May.

OLDSMAR, Fla. – The decision by the connections of 2011 Kentucky Derby winner Animal Kingdom to skip the Grade 3, $150,000 Tampa Bay Stakes in favor of an allowance race at Gulfstream Park for his first start of 2012 took a bit of the luster off Saturday’s feature at Tampa Bay Downs. But the presence of million-dollar earner Duke of Mischief and Lentenor, full brother to 2006 Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro, in the overflow field of 13 help make the 1 1/16th-mile turf race an intriguing challenge for bettors.

NEW ORLEANS – Mardi Gras may have ended Tuesday, but in this city, the rallying cry is always “laissez les bons temps rouler.” At Fair Grounds on Saturday, the good times roll with a stakes-packed Louisiana Derby preview card, highlighted by a Grade 2, $300,000 Risen Star Stakes in which the locals will try to defend their honor against a visitor.