The oft-injured Winslow Homer, whose career has been punctuated by promising efforts and then lengthy absences, is on the sidelines again and will miss next week’s Alysheba Stakes at Churchill Downs, trainer Larry Jones said Friday morning.

“We sent him over to Rood and Riddle in Lexington, and their theory was that we should back off because of his suspensories,” Jones said. “So we’re going to pass the Alysheba.”

Jones took over as Winslow Homer’s trainer this year and raced him at Oaklawn Park earlier this year. Winslow Homer previously had been trained by Tony Dutrow.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Trainer Juan Arias has heard the jokes before, and he’s got a witty reply. Told he looks damn good for a guy who won the Kentucky Derby 40 years ago with Canonero II, Arias said, “I spent all my Canonero money on surgeries.”

Arias is 45. The only connection he has to Canonero is that both were young in 1971. Canonero was 3, Arias 5. But Arias, a former jockey who is from Panama, has the same name as the Venezuelan trainer who engineered Canonero’s improbable Derby victory.

ELMONT, N.Y. -  In her return off a five-month layoff, Chorus Music picked up where she left off, roaring to a 5 1/2-length victory in Friday’s $60,000 Irish Linnet Stakes for New York-bred fillies and mares.

Chorus Music, a 6-year-old daughter of Strategic Mission, was making her first start since Nov. 21 at Aqueduct, where she won a starter allowance by 1 3/4 lengths.

Under Alex Solis, Chorus Music settled into midpack while Exclusive Scheme set leisurely fractions of 25.58 seconds, 50.12, and 1:14.21 while being hassled by a rank In Te Domine.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The Kentucky Derby and Oaks aren’t the only sensational betting races shaping up for next weekend at Churchill Downs. The Grade 1, $500,000 Woodford Reserve Turf Classic is expected to get its 14-horse limit, and with top horses coming from all over the map, it looks like it will be easily the most important middle-distance grass race in North America so far this year.

Trainer John Sadler will be at Churchill Downs on Friday to saddle Zazu in the Kentucky Oaks. He has two good reasons to hurry back to Hollywood Park for Saturday’s card, and not stick around Churchill Downs for the Derby.

Sadler intends to start Sidney’s Candy in next Saturday’s $150,000 Mervyn LeRoy Handicap over 1 1/16 miles and Cost of Freedom in the $70,000 Cool Frenchy Stakes over five furlongs.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – In addition to 4,500 video-lottery terminals, the casino at Aqueduct also will house a limited number of electronic table game machines when it opens later this summer, with the hopes that regular table games will be able to be offered sometime in the future.

ELMONT, N.Y. – Neither of the two overnight stakes for New York-breds drew sufficient entries to be carded for Sunday, thus the feature at Belmont Park is a first-level allowance sprint for 3-year-olds and up that drew an intriguing group of six.

The regally bred Safety Check and the European shipper Fastest Magician – both returning from long layoffs – are likely to draw the most interest from bettors in the 6 1/2-furlong dash that will go as race 4 on a 10-race card.

The spotlight in the 2011 2000 Guineas 1s firmly fixed on the standout colt Frankel, but there is no real point of focus at all when it comes to Sunday’s 1000 Guineas, the 3-year-old filly counterpart to Saturday’s race for boys. A field of 19 is expected for the 1000 Guineas, which will be contested at one mile over a straight course at Newmarket, and English bookmakers have seven horses clustered at odds between 9-2 and 12-1.

GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas – Midwest Thoroughbreds and trainer Cody Autrey claimed about 30 horses during the Fair Grounds meet, and on Sunday one of those acquisitions looks like a solid choice in the featured fifth race at Lone Star Park.

Cat Bells will be returning to the Texas-bred ranks for the first time since 2009 in a first-level allowance for fillies and mares at a mile. It will be her first start for Midwest and Autrey after being claimed for $17,500 on March 20.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. – Nine months after being sidelined by facial injuries sustained in a freak pre-race accident at Del Mar, jockey Tyler Baze rode the 1,775th winner of his award-winning career in Thursday’s sixth race at Hollywood Park.

Guiding Joyful Success to an easy 3 1/4-victory in a $16,000 claimer for sprinters, Baze celebrated with a few right-handed fist pumps. A few minutes later, after leaving the winner’s circle, Baze summed up his thoughts surrounding his comeback.

“Mission accomplished,” Baze said. “I got it done. Now there is no monkey on my back.”