John Johny Jak, winner of two minor stakes earlier this year, is recovering from recent colic surgery and will be sidelined until the summer, trainer Kristin Mulhall said.

The illness was diagnosed after Mulhall exercised John Johny Jak at Hollywood Park on Dec. 23. He was rushed to a local equine hospital later that morning, where he underwent surgery.

“They expect a full recovery,” she said, conveying the opinion of veterinarians. “He’ll probably get at least three months. Fortunately, he’s still with us.”

Two divisions of the $50,000 Louisiana Futurity might highlight a sleepy weekday card at Fair Grounds, but Saturday’s 11-race program in New Orleans is far from mundane, and the Futurities take a backseat to a pair of key 2-year-old route allowance races and a stakes-class turf-allowance race for older horses.

 OZONE PARK, N.Y. -  Lemon Splendor, coming off a maiden win on turf, made a successful dirt debut Thursday at Aqueduct, rolling by odds-on favorite Double Mint inside the eighth pole and drawing clear to a 3 3/4-length victory in the $75,000 Swirlaway Stakes for New York-bred 2-year-old  fillies.

 Proud and Charming, well out of it early, rallied down the center of the track to get second by one-half length over Double Mint, the 4-5 favorite. She was followed in the order of finish by Berning Carbs, Mon Rose, and Full of Intent.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. − With disappointing efforts in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile and Remsen, Speightscity proved he wasn’t as good as he looked winning a maiden race by 11 1/2 lengths at Saratoga. By winning a first-level allowance race here by nearly two lengths Dec. 15, Speightscity hopefully proved he wasn’t as bad as he looked in his two graded stakes attempts.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Dialed In was the king of the local 3-year-old division last winter, winning both the Grade 3 Holy Bull and Grade 1 Florida Derby for owner Bob LaPenta and trainer Nick Zito. LaPenta and Zito are hoping history will repeat itself in 2012 with their latest 3-year-old prospect, Casual Trick, who makes his stakes debut against 10 rivals in Sunday’s inaugural edition of the Gulfstream Park Derby.

STICKNEY, Ill. – Whatever struggles the Hawthorne fall-winter meet has undergone this year, say this about the 2011 season: It’s going out with a bang.

If full fields are what bettors crave, then bettors would do well to tune into Saturday’s closing-day program at the Chicago-area track, where a whopping 144 horses (including also-eligibles) were entered in 12 races. Almost every race will go with a full gate, and while the card is short on quality, opportunities to make a lot of money on a little bet figure to abound.

ARCADIA, Calif. – Daddy Nose Best rebounded from a troubled sixth-place finish in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf at Churchill Downs to win an allowance race there three weeks later.

He emerged from that race with even greater respect from Scott Blasi, trainer Steve Asmussen’s assistant.

“His last race was very impressive,” Blasi said Thursday. “He had to wait for room and he looked good winning.”

OLDSMAR, Fla. – If It’s Me Mom comes close to duplicating her last race, she will take some beating in Saturday’s $50,000 Minaret Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs. The six-furlong Minaret drew a field of 10 fillies and mares.

It’s Me Mom, making her second start since June, blew to the lead, set fractions of 22.14 and 44.96 while in hand, then drew off to win a Dec. 7 allowance sprint here by 8 1/4 lengths. She earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 91 for that six-furlong race, one point lower than for her victory in the Robert M. O’Malley at Suffolk Downs in October.

Break Up will shake Louisiana-bred standout Star Guitar for the first time since July in Saturday night’s $60,000 B-Connected at Delta Downs.

“I think he’s happy about that,” said Brett Brinkman, Break Up’s trainer.

The B-Connected, which will share a card with the $60,000 Lookout, is a one-mile race for 3-year-olds and up who have not won a stakes in 2011. The condition excludes Star Guitar, who has won the last three stakes that Break Up has been in, dating back to the $100,000 Louisiana Showcase Classic on July 2 at Evangeline Downs.

ARCADIA, Calif. – In all likelihood, Turbulent Descent lost the Eclipse Award for the outstanding female sprinter of 2011 with a troubled fifth-place finish in the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint at Churchill Downs on Nov. 4.

The setback has not stopped trainer Mike Puype from campaigning on the filly’s behalf in advance of Saturday’s $300,000 La Brea Stakes at Santa Anita.

“Hopefully, the Eclipse Award voters haven’t filled out their ballots,” he said.