Express Kid, who picked up 10 points toward the Kentucky Derby with his win in the $300,000 Springboard Mile last month at Remington Park, will likely advance to another points race, according to trainer Wade Rarick.

Express Kid is now based at Turf Paradise after his win at Remington, and a race that Rarick is targeting for the horse is the $500,000 Sunland Park Derby on Feb. 15. It also distributes points for the Kentucky Derby.

Rarick wants to give Express Kid another shot at a points race to see if he might duplicate his upset win in the Springboard.

Sam Houston Race Park opens a 41-date meet Friday night with its Houston Racing Festival card right around the corner. The Grade 3, $300,000 Houston Ladies Classic and the $200,000 John B. Connally Turf Cup will again anchor the meet’s richest day when the races are renewed Jan. 24.

Sam Houston races through April 4. The track will race on a Friday-through-Sunday schedule, with a 6:30 p.m. Central post on Fridays and a 1 p.m. post on Saturdays and Sundays.

ARCADIA, Calif. – There was little to celebrate in the career of the filly Ambaya until the stretch run of Sunday’s Grade 1 American Oaks.

Ignored at 12-1 in a field of 11, Ambaya closed from fifth to win by a half-length. Not bad for a filly still eligible for a first-condition allowance race.

While Ambaya was the seventh choice, she was held in high regard by trainer Jonathan Thomas and owner and breeder George Strawbridge Jr.

ARCADIA, Calif. – Jockey Antonio Fresu will be sidelined for an undetermined period after suffering a broken toe on his left foot in an incident in Sunday’s seventh race at Santa Anita, according to his agent, Ron Anderson.

Fresu was scheduled to discuss treatment options with doctors on Monday, Anderson said. There is a possibility the injury could require surgery.

ARCADIA, Calif. – Sunday’s opening day of the Santa Anita winter-spring meeting drew an announced ontrack crowd of 41,962, the highest since 46,514 attended the first day of the 2016-17 meeting.

Sunday’s figure was slightly higher than the 2024 opening day crowd of 41,562 held on a Thursday. Opening day is typically Dec. 26. Sunday was supposed to be the third day of the current meeting, but the Friday and Saturday programs were canceled over the weekend because of substantial rain last week.

ARCADIA, Calif. – The Nysos show is likely to go international in early 2026, and he may take a talented friend with him.

After a win in the Grade 2 Laffit Pincay Jr. Stakes on Sunday at Santa Anita, trainer Bob Baffert said Nysos is on schedule for a start in the $20 million Saudi Cup at 1 1/8 miles on Feb. 14 in Saudi Arabia. The Saudi Cup also is a possibility for Nevada Beach, the three-time stakes winner who challenged Nysos through the stretch of the Pincay before losing by a head.

“That was a good prep for both and for something bigger,” Baffert said.

Though Mailata was the 5-2 morning-line favorite in Tuesday’s $75,000 Future Stars Stakes at Parx Racing, his connections also entered him in Saturday’s $150,000 Jerome Stakes at Aqueduct.

Trainer Butch Reid said a decision on where Mailata would run would likely be made sometime Monday, but he sounded as though he preferred the Jerome.

“I like the spot, outside post in a five-horse field going a mile. Seems perfect for me,” Reid said.