According to the betting public participating in Pool 4 of the Kentucky Derby Future Wager, which closed Sunday night, trainer Tom Amoss’s best hope for the 2023 Derby runs not in the Risen Star Stakes on Saturday at Fair Grounds but in the filly-restricted Rachel Alexandra.

Hoosier Philly, the unbeaten 3-year-old filly trained by Amoss, makes her season’s debut in the Rachel Alexandra after attracting surprising support in the latest future pool, where she closed at 11-1. Only champion 2-year-old male Forte at 8-1 was a shorter price among individual horses.

Cave Rock, one of the nation’s leading 2-year-olds of 2022, has resumed workouts for the first time since a second-place finish in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile at Keeneland in November.

On Monday at Santa Anita, Cave Rock worked a half-mile in 47.80 seconds.

“He went nice and easy,” trainer Bob Baffert said. “He wanted to do more.”

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Jockey Jose Gomez, the Eclipse Award-winning apprentice jockey of 2022, officially became a journeyman rider on Sunday. He went 0 for 5 with two seconds at Aqueduct.

On Saturday, his final day as an apprentice, Gomez won the $97,000 Jimmy Winkfield Stakes aboard Drew’s Gold for his third stakes win and 171st career win.

Gomez, who sits sixth in the Aqueduct winter meet standings with 15 wins, expressed confidence that he will continue to succeed even without the five-pound weight allowance.

Pool 4 in the 2023 Kentucky Derby Future Wager closed Sunday evening following the customary three-day run with the mutuel field once again a clear-cut favorite among 40 wagering options.

The field, the 40th or “all others” option, was a 2-1 choice over reigning divisional champion Forte (8-1) and the only filly in the lineup, Hoosier Philly (11-1), following the customary three-day window of betting. Then came Tapit Trice (15-1), Instant Coffee (22-1), Victory Formation (23-1), and Geaux Rocket Ride (25-1). Thirteen of the 39 individual interests closed at 90-1 or higher.

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – The stakes winner Code Five is among a string of six horses trainer Kory Owens has brought to Oaklawn Park.  

Owens said Friday that the group arrived about 10 days ago, and includes a trio of horses bred in Arkansas. The horses came in from Arizona. 

Owens last raced at Oaklawn in 2010, according to statistics from Daily Racing Form. He brought Uh Oh Bango to town, and the horse finished fourth in both the Rebel and Arkansas Derby.  

Big City Lights, a game second in the California Cup Sprint for statebreds at Santa Anita on Jan. 7, is scheduled to undergo exploratory knee surgery on Saturday, trainer Richard Mandella said.

Mandella said on Friday that the operation will determine whether Big City Lights has sustained cartilage damage.

“It doesn’t show much on the X-ray, but we’ll take a look,” he said.

Carlos Barbosa, who began riding in his native Puerto Rico last month, will have his American debut at Golden Gate Fields this weekend.

Barbosa, 18, is booked to ride two races on both Saturday and Sunday. Barbosa won 2 of 14 starts in Puerto Rico from Jan. 1 through last Sunday. He will be represented in this country by Nelson Arroyo.

Arroyo said last week that Barbosa intends to ride at Golden Gate Fields through the winter-spring meeting, which ends on June 11, before possibly relocating to Southern California for the summer.

Santa Anita will race on Friday, Feb. 24, a late addition to the racing schedule following cancellations caused by rain last month.

Santa Anita lost three days of racing (Jan. 1, 14 and 16) in the first half of January because of excessive rain. The track conducted a makeup day on Friday, Jan. 20.

:: Get ready for Santa Anita racing with DRF Past Performances, Picks, and Clocker Reports. 

Fonner Park in Grand Island, Nebraska, which opened its 37-day live meet on Friday, has declined to send its signal to out-of-state sites to avoid regulation by the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority, track officials said Friday.

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Lone Rock, a marathon specialist who has earned more than $1.4 million, is nearing a return to racing. He was given time off after running third in the Birdstone on July 28 at Saratoga. Lone Rock resumed galloping at a training center before coming to trainer Robertino Diodoro at Oaklawn.

“I would say he’s about 30 days away from a race,” Diodoro said. “He had some bottom in him before he came to us. He’s on a steady work schedule now and doing well, seems very happy.”