ARCADIA, Calif.– When Wave of Applause finished fifth in the Grade 3 Miesque Stakes at Hollywood Park on Nov. 28, trainer Jim Cassidy was already thinking of her next start.

Cassidy decided on an equipment change – a different bit – and expects Wave of Applause to run a better race when she starts in Friday’s $75,000 Blue Norther Stakes at Santa Anita.

PHOENIX – Camp Verde looks to parlay a romping allowance win at Turf Paradise on Nov. 30 into something bigger as he appears the horse to beat in Friday’s $25,000 Luke Kruytbosch Stakes. The 1 1/16-mile event for 3-year-olds, named for the former track announcer who passed away in 2008, drew eight.

City Cool gave trainer Steve Asmussen a fourth win in the $100,000 Riley Allison Futurity since 2001 on Tuesday, when he pulled away by 7 1/4 lengths in the 2-year-old stakes at Sunland Park.

City Cool ($5.60) broke on top in the 6 1/2-furlong race and proceeded to lead the field through an opening quarter in 22.45 seconds. Lion Hall moved up to press him from the inside, with City Cool continuing to maintain his advantage through a half-mile in 45.22. Into the stretch, City Cool gave Lion Hall the slip and went on to cover the distance on a fast track in 1:15.53.

From just about every handicapping angle, Jannas Pride looks like a reliable favorite Thursday in the $120,000 Red Hedeman Mile at Sunland Park.

He is unbeaten at the race’s distance, he owns the field’s best last-race Beyer Speed Figure, he has already defeated six of the 10 horses he will face, and he comes into the stakes white-hot. Jannas Pride has won his last three races, his most recent the $129,000 Eddy County at Zia Park on Dec. 5.

Already this winter, trainer Steve Margolis has sent out 2-year-old fillies Bouquet Booth and Little Miss Holly to noteworthy Louisiana victories, and Switching Gears can join Margolis’s list of 2011 3-year-old filly stakes hopefuls with a win in the featured sixth race Thursday at Fair Grounds.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – At face value, it may not seem like a first-level open company allowance race at Aqueduct would be a class drop from a starter allowance race at Parx Racing. But the field Bells of Concerto meets in Thursday’s $47,000 allowance feature at the Big A seems significantly inferior to what she ran against last time.

In fact, on paper, Thursday’s first-level allowance sprint may be the easiest spot Bells of Concerto has been in since trainer Scott Volk claimed her for $25,000 at Gulfstream Park last March.

ARCADIA, Calif. – The consistent Amazombie has won 4 of 8 starts this year, a career-best season for the 4-year-old gelding. He has won everything but a stakes race, and that may be on his agenda in 2011 if he runs well in a $68,000 allowance race at Santa Anita on Thursday.

Trained and co-owned by Bill Spawr, Amazombie was entered for the $75,000 On Trust Handicap for statebreds at Hollywood Park on Dec. 19, but the race was canceled when significant rainfall left the track uneven.

ARCADIA, Calif. - Two days into the winter-spring meeting, trainer Bob Baffert has already won maiden races with the exciting 2-year-olds The Factor and Uncle Sam.

The Factor broke a 21-year-old track record Sunday, winning a six-furlong maiden race by 8 1/4 lengths in 1:06.98. On Monday, Uncle Sam won his debut in a one-mile maiden race by 2 3/4 lengths, earning a 77 Beyer Figure.

ARCADIA, Calif. – Jeranimo showed Monday that he belongs in the conversation regarding California’s top handicap horses. His timing could not be better.

The 4-year-old colt’s win in the $150,000 San Gabriel Stakes was his second Grade 2 win this year and was a prep for two lucrative stakes in coming months.

Owner B.J. Wright has the $300,000 Sunshine Millions Turf for California-breds and Florida-breds on Jan. 29 as a short-term goal, with the $750,000 Santa Anita Handicap on the main track March 5 as a late-winter goal.

Changing surfaces is not an issue.

MIAMI – Trainer Leo Azpurua Jr.’s rising 2-year-old hopeful Manicero is back at his Calder base looking for new worlds to conquer after posting his second straight stakes victory Sunday, a hard-fought, one-length decision in Tampa Bay Downs’ Inaugural.

The win was the third in a row and easily the toughest yet for the son of Mass Media who dominated his competition winning his maiden and capturing the Jack Price Juvenile here earlier this fall.