HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. -  Tar Heel Mom appeared home free at midstretch in last year’s $100,000 Sugar Swirl at Gulfstream Park only to falter in the final strides and finish third, beaten a head by Pretty Prolific. 

ARCADIA, Calif. - Santa Anita’s return to a dirt surface this season prompted trainer Steve Asmussen to finally send a string of horses to the West Coast, and California fans are quickly realizing that wherever Asmussen runs, he wins.

OLDSMAR, Fla. – Manicero and Devilish Lady both traveled from Calder to extend their winning streaks to four on Saturday in separate events in the Skyway Festival at Tampa Bay Downs.

Manicero, with Luis Saez aboard, posted a hard-fought half-length triumph over Bert B Don in the Pasco Stakes, while Devilish Lady had a much easier time in romping by 6 3/4 lengths in the Gasparilla Stakes. Both were $75,000, seven-furlong races that drew fields of eight 3-year-olds.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. -  After getting away with ridiculously soft early fractions under David Cohen, Heart Butte had plenty left to fend off stablemate Alma d’Oro in the stretch and win Saturday’s $65,000 Evening Attire Stakes by one length at Aqueduct.

Although the 5-year-old mare Aspenglow is based in Maryland, she does most of her running across in the border in West Virginia, where she has won 12 of 14 starts. Making a rare appearance at her home track Laurel Park on Saturday, Aspenglow proved just as adept as she has been out of town, cruising to her sixth straight victory in the $75,000 What a Summer Stakes.

T he conditions for Tuesday night’s allowance feature at Charles Town clearly state the 4 1/2-furlong sprint is restricted to horses who have never won two races. Nevertheless, half of the 10-horse field already owns at least two victories, including one stakes winner and four others with three to four wins on their r é sum é s.

All those horses are eligible for Tuesday’s eighth race because they are West Virginia-breds and any victories in statebred races don’t count against their eligibility in open company.

Bouquet Booth and Little Miss Holly will meet in the Silverbulletday Stakes on the afternoon of Jan. 22, but they also squared off on Saturday morning at Fair Grounds. The two 3-year-old fillies worked five furlongs in company, with Bouquet Booth finishing a little in front of Little Miss Holly.

“Bouquet Booth got a little bit the better of her at the end, but that’s to be expected since she’s a Grade 3 winner and the other filly just won a maiden last time,” said Steve Margolis, who trains both horses.

ARCADIA, Calif. – In his two starts for trainer Bob Baffert, Classic Legacy has undergone some sort of equipment change.

Classic Legacy wore blinkers for the first time in the $1 million Delta Jackpot in Louisiana on Nov. 20, but was rank and finished fifth. For Monday’s $75,000 San Pedro Stakes at Santa Anita, Classic Legacy will race as a gelding for the first time. The blinkers also came off.

Baffert is hoping that Classic Legacy will show better behavior in the San Pedro, a 6 1/2-furlong race for 3-year-olds.

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Grant Jack, who is proven class as a stakes winner at two turns, and Archarcharch, who showed raw talent in winning his maiden in a stakes race, meet for the first time Monday in the $100,000 Smarty Jones at Oaklawn Park.

The race is the first of three preps for the Grade 1, $1 million Arkansas Derby on April 16. It will be run at a mile, and will end at the sixteenth pole, as with all races at the distance at Oaklawn.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Fort Hughes will look to avenge a narrow loss to Royal Currier when he faces that rival and four other 3-year-olds in Monday’s $65,000 Jimmy Winkfield Stakes, the Aqueduct feature on the Martin Luther King Jr. Day card.