OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Coming off two solid victories at Delaware Park, Rush Now was one of the betting choices in the $1 million Delta Downs Jackpot at Delta Downs on Nov. 20. After racing an up-close fourth early on, Rush Now backed up to finish seventh, beaten 18 lengths by Gourmet Dinner.

Rush Now, a son of Tiznow trained by Tony Dutrow, will seek to rebound in Saturday’s $65,000 Count Fleet Stakes for newly turned 3-year-olds.

Dutrow said he couldn’t come up with any excuse for Rush Now’s poor performance in the Delta Jackpot.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Nicole H, the dominant winner of the Garland of Roses here Dec. 4, heads a field of five fillies and mares entered in Saturday’s $65,000 Interborough Stakes. Only two of the 12 nominees entered the Interborough, but three horses were supplemented to the field to help make the race go.

Meese Rocks, who finished second to Nicole H in the Garland of Roses, looms the main challenger. Her stablemate, Quiet Mover, was one of the three supplements along with Bob’s Dylan and Purrfect Bluff.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Along with Horse of the Year, one of the Eclipse Award categories that is up for debate is that of leading jockey.

Ramon Dominguez, Garrett Gomez, and John Velazquez are the top three riders in purse money won, while DeShawn Parker, Dominguez, and Russell Baze were the leaders in races won entering the final three days of the year.

The East Coast-based trainer Chad Brown, who has shipped Upgrade to Fair Grounds for Friday's Woodchopper, could see more stakes action this meet in New Orleans. Brown, who won the recent fall training title at Aqueduct, has the majority of his horses in south Florida.

“I’ve been looking at the Fair Grounds stakes schedule real close and have some horses that might fit there,” he said. “We might be making a few appearances there.”

Brown also had a big Saratoga, winning with 17 of 56 starters at the meet.

Herp, who rallied to win a first-level allowance sprint at Fair Grounds on Sunday, is being pointed for the Grade 3, $100,000 Lecomte on Jan. 22, said trainer Bret Calhoun. The race, to be run at about a mile, is the first stakes on the road to the Louisiana Derby.

It will also be the first two-turn start for Herp. Calhoun has wanted to run the horse around two turns, but said the routes he entered Herp in failed to fill so he ended up racing over six furlongs on Sunday.

Louisiana Champions Day at Fair Grounds was supposed to be a coming out party for Take Me Home Too. Instead, it ended up being a head-scratcher. Take Me Home Too was the favorite in the $100,000 Lassie after establishing herself as one of the region’s better 2-year-olds over the summer. But when the real running began in the six-furlong race, she dropped back and ended up finishing eighth of 11.

Garrett Gomez will finish second in the money-earnings title this year, ending a four-year run as the national leader.

Gomez, who turns 38 on Saturday, trailed Ramon Dominguez by $453,401 through Tuesday. The purse levels of races at Santa Anita for the last three days of the year were not high enough to make up the difference.

Gomez’s agent, Ron Anderson, noted that through Tuesday Dominguez had 1,455 mounts this year, compared with 775 for Gomez.

Trainer Richard Mandella will spend a few days assessing Arresting Officer before making any plans for the colt, who was second in the California Breeders’ Champion Stakes last Sunday.

Arresting Officer was trained by Mike Mitchell for Sunday’s race, but owner Suleman Dhani transferred the colt to Mandella earlier this week.

“He’s a little stiff coming out of the race,” Mandella said of Arresting Officer. “We’re in the process of analyzing him.”

For the connections of most of the 11 horses who will run Friday in the $60,000 Woodchopper at about a mile on turf at Fair Grounds, the race’s appeal is largely the same.

“It’s the last chance to run against straight 3-year-olds,” said trainer Chad Brown, who has sent Upgrade to New Orleans from south Florida.

Trainer Mark Frostad will start the undefeated Red Strike, whose two wins have come at Woodbine.

“It looked like a good spot to go in,” Frostad said. “Next year, he has to step up against the older boys.”

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Among the pictures hanging on the wall in trainer Mike Hernandez’s Belmont Park barn office is one of him as a groom holding Big Ike in the Oaklawn Park winner’s circle following the 1950 Arkansas Derby.

Sixty years later, the 85-year-old Hernandez – the oldest active trainer on the New York Racing Association circuit – still enjoys getting to the barn by 5:15 each morning, looking for his next stakes horse. Mine Over Matter gave Hernandez his most recent stakes win taking the Salute Me Sir Stakes at Belmont in September.