HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Hours before leaving the winner’s circle triumphantly here Saturday following Art Collector’s impressive victory in the $3 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational, Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott was scratching his head in consternation following the inexplicably dull performance turned in by his odds-on favorite Obligatory in the Grade 2 Inside Information.

While things didn’t go great for trainer Brad Cox this past weekend in Florida, where Cyberknife wrapped up his racing career with a sixth-place finish as the 2-1 favorite in the Pegasus World Cup, the Fair Grounds wing of the stable did just fine. Cox ran four horses last racing week in New Orleans, and all of them won.

The undefeated Hoosier Philly didn’t exactly ease back into published workouts this past weekend at Fair Grounds, drilling a half-mile Jan. 28 in 47.80 seconds, the fastest among 102 four-furlong works that morning.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Gufo, a divisional turf standout in each of his last three seasons of racing, was sent through his first workout in several months when breezing an easy three furlongs Sunday at trainer Christophe Clement’s winter base of Payson Park.

Gufo, a 6-year-old horse by Declaration of War, could return to action at Gulfstream Park in the Pan American on April 1, the same Grade 2 race that kicked off a 2022 campaign in which he earned $938,020 from seven starts for his owner, Otter Bend Stables. In all, Gufo has won nearly $2.2 million from 21 races.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Luis Carvajal Jr., best known as the trainer of the standout sprinter Imperial Hint, has disbanded his stable at Tampa Bay Downs and is now working in the Gulfstream Park racing office.

Carvajal, a 50-year-old native of Chile, ran his last starter Jan. 8 at Tampa. He said the recent dispersal of the racing stock of one of his main owners, Patricia Generazio, was a catalyst in his career switch.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Even with his name sitting atop the Gulfstream Park championship-meet trainer standings, Saffie Joseph Jr. is acutely aware of how humbling the sport of racing can be.

All three Joseph horses finished far behind the victorious Art Collector in the Pegasus World Cup on Saturday. Skippylongstocking was seventh at 9-1, White Abarrio was eighth at 6-1, and O’Connor was 11th at 25-1 in a 12-horse field.

ARCADIA, Calif. – Mind your manners.

That was the message veteran jockey’s agent Craig O’Bryan imparted to Juan Hernandez, the rider he represents, in the days before the start of the current Santa Anita winter-spring meeting on Dec. 26.

“Don’t get days,” O’Bryan told his rider. “We’re loaded.”

“It looks like it worked out,” Hernandez said.

Even the boldest prediction could not have guessed the level of Hernandez’s success in the first month of the season. Through Sunday, Hernandez had 27 wins, far clear of Edwin Maldonado, who is second with nine wins.

ARCADIA, Calif. - Races near and far are under consideration for Newgrange following his third stakes win in Saturday’s Grade 2 San Pasqual Stakes at Santa Anita.

Trainer Phil D’Amato said on Sunday that Newgrange is a candidate for the Grade 1 Santa Anita Handicap on March 4 or the $12 million Dubai World Cup at Meydan Racecourse in the United Arab Emirates on March 25. Both races are run at 1 1/4 miles.

“The owners are going to talk,” D’Amato said. “There is a lot of money overseas.”

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – The Kentucky Oaks is the goal for Wet Paint following her Saturday win in the $200,000 Martha Washington at Oaklawn Park, but the path she will take to get the filly classic is still to be determined, trainer Brad Cox said on Sunday.

Wet Paint made her stakes debut in the Martha Washington and closed from last for a two-length win under Flavien Prat. She earned a career-high Beyer Speed Figure of 77. Wet Paint came into the 1 1/16-mile race off a runner-up finish in a first-level allowance route on the synthetic track at Turfway Park.

ARCADIA, Calif. - The field for the Grade 3 Robert Lewis Stakes for 3-year-olds at Santa Anita on Saturday will consist of four entrants trained by Bob Baffert.

The $200,000 race at 1 1/16 miles drew 16 nominations – 14 trained by Baffert as well as Eastbound, trained by John Shirreffs, and Thirsty John, trained by Peter Miller.

Baffert has entered Arabian Lion, Hard to Figure, Newgate and Worcester, Santa Anita racing officials said.