HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Mucho Macho Man will sport a new look when he runs Saturday in the Grade 2 Risen Star at Fair Grounds. No blinkers!

Mucho Macho Man launched his 3-year-old campaign by finishing fourth as the favorite in the Grade 3 Holy Bull here earlier this month, racing close to a fast pace before faltering in late stretch. Trainer Kathy Ritvo said she had been contemplating removing the blinkers from Mucho Macho Man even as a 2-year-old and has decided now is the right time to finally make the move.

Racing officials at Fair Grounds are expecting a terrific field for their next big race on the Triple Crown trail, the Risen Star Stakes, with two major hopefuls scheduled to ship in from south Florida to make their 3-year-old debuts in the Grade 2, $300,000 race.

Rogue Romance, third in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile, and Santiva, winner of the Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes, are among the six to eight known prospects for the Risen Star, which will be run Saturday, Feb. 19, at the New Orleans track.

ARCADIA, Calif. – Perfect after four starts in sprints, including a sharp win in an optional claimer on Friday, Bench Points is through with one-turn races for the rest of the winter.

Bench Points won his first start since September in a six-furlong optional claimer on Friday, closing from last in a field of four to beat Da Ruler, the 3-10 favorite. The victory led trainer Tim Yakteen to mention the $250,000 San Felipe Stakes over 1 1/16 miles on March 12 for Bench Points’s next start. The San Felipe Stakes is a key prep for the $1 million Santa Anita Derby on April 9.

Who's hot

Todd Pletcher, who won last year’s Kentucky Derby, is the only trainer to land two horses on the inaugural top 20 of this year’s Derby Watch. Heading his duo is the unbeaten Uncle Mo, last year’s Eclipse Award-winning 2-year-old, who is the 7-2 favorite on the current Derby line set by Mike Watchmaker, Daily Racing Form’s national handicapper. Otherwise, the wealth is spread, with 18 other trainers represented.

Who's not

ARCADIA, Calif. – The pecking order in the older female division is up for revision Sunday at Santa Anita, where all the big names are trying something different in the Grade 2 La Canada Stakes.

Harmonious, a Grade 1-winning turf specialist, switches to the main track.

Always a Princess, a Grade 2 winner at 1 1/16 miles, tests her stamina by stretching out to 1 1/8 miles.

Finally, there is Blind Luck. Champion 3-year-old filly of 2010, her unsatisfactory recent comeback – how dare she finish second? – raised more questions than it answered.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – In an effort to expedite the construction of the casino at Aqueduct, the New York Racing Association will close the Big A’s backstretch for seven weeks and horses stabled there will be moved to Belmont Park to train. Racing at Aqueduct will not be interrupted.

ARCADIA, Calif. – Rumor was withdrawn from an allowance race against males on Friday to start in a one-mile allowance race against 3-year-old fillies on Sunday. The Sunday race could lead to a start in the $250,000 Santa Anita Oaks on March 5, trainer Richard Mandella said.

“We’ll see how she does” on Sunday, Mandella said. “The Santa Anita Oaks would be moving pretty fast. If she runs anything like she did the other day, I’d have to think about it.”

Apprentice jockey Abel Cedillo suffered a fractured bone in his back in a two-horse spill in the first race Thursday, his agent, Roger Olguin, told Santa Anita publicity officials Friday.

Cedillo, 22, a native of Guatemala, is expected to miss up to two weeks of racing, Olguin said.

Trainer Kelly Breen said his Holy Bull runner-up Sweet Ducky would likely skip the Grade 2 Fountain of Youth here lat Gulfstream Park ater this month to await the Grade 1 Florida Derby on April 3.

“Nothing’s definite yet but the last time I spoke to the owners we were thinking about not dancing every dance,” said Breen. “But he’s going to need to step up in the Florida Derby money wise, finish first or second money, just to qualify on graded earnings for the Kentucky Derby.

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Even though inclement weather has kept trainer Mac Robertson from achieving as much as he wanted to physically with Win Willy heading into Sunday’s $100,000 Essex Handicap at Oaklawn Park, he has been able to do some things to keep the horse on his game mentally.

Oaklawn, which lost six straight cards of racing from Feb. 3 through Friday due to winter weather, also had its training schedule interrupted. Last week, horses were unable to get on the track from Wednesday through Friday.