HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Opening day at the 2011 Gulfstream Park meet couldn’t have gone a whole lot better for Wesley Ward. Not only did the 42-year-old trainer take the Grade 3 Old Hat Stakes with the rapid filly Final Mesa, but he also sent out a first-time starter named Gazillion Kisses to win in a field full of highly touted maiden fillies.

But that was Wednesday, and this is Saturday, when Ward is looking for further success when he saddles Gangsterontherun for the $100,000 Spectacular Bid Stakes at Gulfstream.

Beulah Park in Grove City, Ohio, will begin a 66-day meet Saturday with its backstretch quarantined following the December deaths of several horses who later tested positive for the equine herpesvirus.

Two horses in Barn 24 died on Dec. 24, and they later tested positive for equine herpesvirus, a contagious disease that primarily affects a horse’s respiratory system. Another horse eventually died from the disease in the same barn.

Horses are not currently allowed to leave the grounds at Beulah and any horses that ship in must stay until after the quarantine is lifted.

ARCADIA, Calif. – Aggie Engineer was able to control a slow pace when leading from start to finish in last month’s Native Diver Handicap at Hollywood Park, but his trainer, Paddy Gallagher, knows the chances are remote of a similar scenario unfolding on Saturday in the Grade 2, $150,000 San Pasqual Stakes at Santa Anita.

OLDSMAR, Fla. – Friday’s nine race program at Tampa Bay Downs was cancelled after an internal broadcast issue prevented Tampa Bay Downs from sending its sumulcast signal to outlets throughout North America.

Post time for the first race, originally slated for 12:25 p.m., was pushed back to 1 p.m. as members of Sportview T.V., the communications provider for Tampa, worked to fix the problem, but those efforts failed and the decision to cancel the program was made shortly before 1 p.m.

Through her four-year racing career, Stylish Jess Br has won six stakes and earned one championship, as the outstanding Quarter Horse aged mare of 2009.

Her record would have more depth with better gate manners, trainer Paul Jones says. In recent weeks, Jones has schooled the 6-year-old mare at the gate several timess to avoid a poor start in Saturday’s $100,000 Charger Bar Handicap at Los Alamitos.

PHOENIX – Spirit Seeker had everything going her way in the summer and fall of 2009, winning three of four starts on Calder dirt, including a win that registered a 103 Beyer Speed Figure. She went to Southern California and was a strong second in Hollywood Park’s Starine in December of 2009 and seemed on her way. Alas, 2010 was, for the most part, a lost year.

ARCADIA, Calif. - Santa Anita’s main track closed for training at 8:30 on Thursday morning, 90 minutes earlier than usual, because of draining issues just past the finish line. Track superintendent Richard Tedesco and his crew began working on the track at 9 a.m. in order to have it ready for the day’s races, which are scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. Pacific.
 

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Final Mesa proved much the best following a five-month layoff Wednesday when dominating the opening-day feature of the 2011 Gulfstream Park meet, the Grade 3, $100,000 Old Hat Stakes.

“She’s a really special filly,” owner-trainer Wesley Ward said afterward.

Trainer Chris Englehart’s streak of success at Aqueduct was snapped Wednesday when Who’s the Cowboy finished second, beaten a length by Poppa’s Pick in the fifth race.

Englehart had won with his last seven consecutive starters at Aqueduct, a streak that coincidentally began with Who’s the Cowboy winning the first race last Thursday when Englehart won three races. Englehart won single races Friday and Saturday before winning with two more runners Sunday.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Mike Hushion may be ailing these days, but his stable is doing just fine.

Hushion, who had to spend the holidays in the hospital after suffering a ruptured and infected appendix, won two stakes in a four-day period with horses that, up until last summer, were based in Southern California. On Saturday, Nicole H won the $65,000 Interborough Stakes at Aqueduct. On Tuesday, Harissa won the $75,000 Sleigh Ride Stakes at Parx Racing by 4 3/4 lengths.