NEW ORLEANS -- Mucho Macho Man, the favorite in Saturday’s Grade 2, $1 million Louisiana Derby, was scheduled to arrive here at Fair Grounds shortly after noon on Wednesday. His co-owner was here earlier. A lot earlier.

James Culver, the president of the Dream Team Racing Stable syndicate that has a 30-percent interest in Mucho Macho Man, left his home in Hickory, N.C., on Tuesday night and just kept going and going and going, much like Mucho Macho Man in last month’s Risen Star Stakes.

FLORENCE, Ky. – By finishing fourth as a 13-1 shot in his only start in a graded race, Thirtyfirststreet hasn’t justified any of his owners catching Kentucky Derby fever.

But that all could change Saturday at Turfway Park, where Thirtyfirststreet, a California-bred colt trained by Doug O’Neill, will be part of a wide-open field of Derby aspirants in the 40th running of the Grade 3, $500,000 Vinery Racing Spiral Stakes.

ARCADIA, Calif. – Santa Anita jockey Garrett Gomez, who led the nation in purse earnings four of the past five years, will hire a new agent in coming weeks while aiming to cut down on travel and spend more time with his family in California.

Gomez confirmed Wednesday that he and agent Ron Anderson will end their five-year business relationship after Santa Anita Derby weekend, April 9-10. Anderson will relocate to Kentucky; he has taken the book of jockey Alan Garcia effective with the start of the Keeneland meet on April 8.

Every great act deserves a decent warm-up. That’s the mindset of most racetracks in regard to their showcase events, and it’s why Fair Grounds has carded five $75,000 stakes on Friday, the day before the $1 million Louisiana Derby and other major races take center stage Saturday at the New Orleans track.

Star Guitar, easily the biggest favorite of the day – and surely the most popular Louisiana-bred of his era – helps lead off the action as the 1-5 morning-line choice in the first of the five stakes, the Costa Rising.

One Sweet Jess joined very elite company when he became the latest 400-yard track record holder at Los Alamitos last week.

One Sweet Jess zoomed 400 yards in 19.11 seconds in the trials for the El Primero Del Ano Derby on March 18, lowering the previous mark of 19.13 set by Apollitical Jess in the Super Derby last November. Apollitical Jess later won the Champion of Champions and was named 2010 World Champion Quarter Horse.

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Maclean's Music, a 3-year-old trained by Steve Asmussen for owner Jess Jackson, earned a 114 Beyer Speed Figure in his debut race Saturday at Santa Anita. Maclean’s Music ran six furlongs in 1:07.44, drawing off through the stretch to win by 7 1/4 lengths under jockey Mike Smith. The Beyer is the highest for a debut race since the figures were first published in 1991.

The 2011 campaign for Caracortado will be purely North American and focus on the top grass races leading to the Breeders’ Cup Mile.

Trainer, breeder, and co-owner Mike Machowsky said Tuesday that the spring schedule for Caracortado will include the Grade 2 Arcadia Handicap at Santa Anita on April 9, Grade 1 Woodford Reserve at Churchill Downs on May 7, and Grade 1 Shoemaker Mile at Hollywood Park on July 2.

Machowsky had considered an international campaign for Caracortado, who was not originally nominated to the Breeders’ Cup.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – The calendar says spring, but no one told Old Man Winter.

A forecast for mixed precipitation and temperatures in the low 40s may conspire to give Thursday’s inner track card a mid-winter feel – one that will only be reinforced by eight claiming races, three of which are for maidens.

Billy Morey amassed more than 1,000 wins in less than a decade during a remarkably swift rise among the ranks of North American trainers. Based in Northern California, Morey ventured out of town for one of his more notable victories a few weeks ago, and on Saturday, he will try for his greatest yet when sending out Positive Response in the $500,000 Vinery Racing Spiral Stakes at Turfway Park in Florence, Ky.

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Havre de Grace was more interested in peppermints than praise following her sparkling win in the Grade 3, $150,000 Azeri last Saturday at Oaklawn, but she is deserving of a heaping of both. She put up a Beyer Speed Figure of 105 while winning the race by three lengths over champion Blind Luck, and in the process established herself as the probable favorite for next month’s Grade 1, $500,000 Apple Blossom Handicap.