Santa Anita reopened for simulcasting wagering on Friday, a day after a wind storm left the racetrack without electricity for much of the day and with considerable damage to the backstretch stables.

Total all-sources handle during the 21-day Churchill Downs meet that ended on Sunday dipped 3.9 percent compared with all-sources handle for the same 21-day meet last year, according to figures supplied by the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission.

Bandbox, a three-time stakes winning New York-bred, returns to the races from a near nine-month layoff in Sunday’s $60,000 Vodka Stakes for New York-bred sprinters. A field of seven was entered for the race, including the coupled entry of Pretty Boy Freud and Uncle T Seven.

As a 2-year-old, Bandbox won the first three starts of his career, including the Charles Town Juvenile and the Sleepy Hollow. His worst race came in the Grade 2 Remsen, when he finished fourth behind To Honor and Serve, clipping heels entering the first turn.

Eblouissante, an unraced half-sister to 2010 Horse of the Year Zenyatta, has resumed training after missing two weeks because of a cough, trainer John Shirreffs said. He said the filly is a few months from her career debut.

“That all happened during the Breeders’ Cup,” Shirreffs said of Eblouissante’s brief illness.

A 2-year-old filly by Bernardini, Eblouissante has not worked since Oct. 26 at Hollywood Park, but is expected to resume workouts soon. In October, Eblouissante had three half-mile workouts.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Trainer Anthony Dutrow can be a man of few words when asked to talk about his horses. Unless he really likes one.

Handicappers can therefore draw their own conclusions from the fact Dutrow had a lot to say about Ancient Rome, who will be among the favorites in Saturday’s opening-day feature at Gulfstream Park, the $100,000 Spectacular Bid Stakes. A field of eight 2-year-olds will contest the Spectacular Bid, including Nashua winner Vexor and the undefeated Luke of York.

The seven horses in the $100,000 Pat Whitworth Illinois Debutante, a 1 1/16-mile race for Illinois-bred 2-year-olds Saturday at Hawthorne, have combined to win a total of five races. The only horse in the race with two wins, Class Break, has never started in a two-turn race. There are three maidens in the field, and one of them, Diva’s Diamond, is the 7-2 second choice on the morning line.

Have at it, handicappers – and good luck.

NEW ORLEANS – Trainer Mike Maker is a man of few words – and many Claiming Crown wins.

Maker, who is kind of the anti-Bob Baffert when it comes to verbosity, has scored seven Claiming Crown victories, the second-highest training total in the 12-year history of the event. No surprise: Maker will be in steady action Saturday, when the Claiming Crown comes to Fair Grounds for the first time, with at least one horse in four of the five Claiming Crown races, including three in the featured $150,000 Jewel.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Winter is usually the season for apprentice riders to shine in New York. Irad Ortiz Jr. has proven to be a rider for all seasons.

Though he will lose his apprentice status roughly halfway through the winter meet, Ortiz is still likely to be the leading bug boy at Aqueduct during the inner track season which runs through March 31. Ortiz, 19, got his winter off to a great start on Wednesday, winning three races on the card. He added two more on Thursday, guiding Quiet Favorite to victory in the fourth race and Siggi the Alien in the sixth.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. – Jockey Patrick Valenzuela is expected to return to riding at Santa Anita on Dec. 26 after undergoing recent gall bladder surgery.

Tom Knust, Valenzuela’s agent, said on Thursday that the jockey is expected to return to California this weekend, and is still recovering from the Nov. 24 operation. Knust said the Dec. 26 opening day of the Santa Anita winter-spring meeting is the targeted date for a comeback. A return at the current Hollywood Park fall meeting, which runs through Dec. 18, is unlikely, Knust said.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – It has been 26 years since owner James Sabiston won the 1985 Ontario Lassie Stakes under the Longview Farm banner with Grecian Touch. Sabiston has a good chance to capture the $150,000 race for Ontario-bred 2-year-old fillies again Saturday at Woodbine, with the Ralph Biamonte-trained stakes winner Rose and Shine.