Considering trainer Neil Howard’s strong start to the Fair Grounds meet – six winners from 18 runners – it’d be mistaken to say ill fortune has hovered over his stable. But weather-wise, Howard’s developing 3-year-olds have not had much recent luck. The promising colt Prime Cut was entered main-track-only in Sunday’s entry-level-allowance opener, and didn’t get to run when the race remained on turf. Not long afterward, the skies opened and grass racing was scrapped during the rest of the card and on Monday, too.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Shine Upon, whose love affair with Queens continued when she won at Aqueduct for the fifth time in as many starts four weeks ago, breaks from the rail and is the one to beat under leading rider Ramon Dominguez in Thursday’s $60,000 Leecoo overnight stakes.

Shine Upon, a handy two-move winner of last month’s Jena Jena, will take on nine other New York-bred fillies and mares in the one-mile Leecoo, among them my Dinah, Fivefifteen, and Ouchy Night, who finished second, third, and fourth behind her last time.

ARCADIA, Calif. – No jockey has benefited more from the lengthy immigration travails of Martin Garcia than Rafael Bejarano, now the go-to rider this winter at Santa Anita for trainer Bob Baffert, who celebrates his 58th birthday Thursday. The Bejarano-Baffert tandem won two more races together Sunday, and Bejarano won a third on the card, to extend their leads in the jockey and trainer standings, respectively.

ALBANY, Calif. – Many of the 3-year-olds expected for Saturday’s $100,000 California Derby have questions to answer in the 1 1/16-mile race.

Early-season 3-year-olds can improve almost overnight, which is what trainer O.J. Jauregui is hoping for with Mr. Candy Bar and Northern Indy.

ARCADIA, Calif. – Jamie Lloyd trains horses, but he also has had success buying European imports and selling them to other trainers, his most notable success being St. Trinians, who blossomed under the care of trainer Mike Mitchell and gave Zenyatta a scare in last year’s Grade 1 Vanity Handicap.

So when Lloyd approached Mitchell about buying a group of horses last fall at Tattersalls in Newmarket, England, Mitchell was quick to react. He enlisted his long-time owner, Dr. Dan Capen, and then Lloyd threw a vine to syndicated radio host Jim Rome, who races as Jungle Racing LLC.

An overflowing stable area and signs that the economy is improving are among the reasons Oaklawn Park officials are looking forward to the 56-date meet that gets under way Friday in Hot Springs, Ark.

“I think we’re cautiously optimistic,” said Eric Jackson, the general manager of Oaklawn. “The economy in this part of the country is starting to look a lot more positive than it has in a while.”

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Super Slash is a family affair. Owned by Peter Klesaris and trained by his son Steve, the veteran mare made a pretty good living knocking around the mid-level claiming and starter allowance ranks, with an occasional foray into stakes and even graded stakes company.

On Thursday at Gulfstream Park, Super Slash finds herself back in the optional claiming ranks for the first time in nearly two years, taking on seven rivals in the $55,000 main event at six furlongs.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Eddie Kenneally had a fairly rough start to his Florida winter after leaving Churchill Downs on a high note. The 44-year-old trainer ran five horses at Calder, and none hit the board, despite all of them being 6-1 or lower.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. - After a couple of disappointing efforts, Giant Moon was sent to owner Al Fried’s farm in upstate New York for a winter vacation, trainer Richard Schosberg said.

Giant Moon finished fourth in the Alex M. Robb Stakes on Dec. 31, his fourth straight loss since he won the Evan Shipman Stakes at Saratoga on July 26. Schosberg said a telltale sign to him that Giant Moon needed a rest was that he didn’t get up for third over Mine Over Matter in the Robb.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – The first week of 2011 was a blast from the not-so-distant-past for trainer Gary Contessa.