A Z Warrior, a 2-year-old filly whom Baffert trains for Zayat, returned to racetrack training earlier this week following a last-place finish in the BC Juvenile Fillies on Nov. 5.

Baffert said that A Z Warrior emerged from her 12th-place finish in the Juvenile Fillies with a bruised foot, which he said was only a temporary setback.

“I just started her back a few days ago,” he said. “I’ll know in a week if I’ll run her in the Starlet.”

The Grade 1 Hollywood Starlet is run over 1 1/16 miles for 2-year-old fillies on Dec. 11.

INGLEWOOD, Calif.– Late Cuddle may not be ready for a major stakes such as the $250,000 Matriarch Stakes at Hollywood Park on Nov. 26.
With two wins in her first three starts in this country, the 5-year-old New Zealand-bred Late Cuddle has shown ample promise, but trainer Jerry Hollendorfer figures the Grade 1 Matriarch is too tough an assignment.
Instead, he is running her in Friday’s first race at Hollywood Park, a $48,000 allowance race over a mile on turf, and she will likely be favored to win.

Blue Laser’s connections passed on the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile and targeted Saturday’s Grade 3, $1 million Delta Downs Jackpot. The move is looking like a good one on paper as the horse was made the 3-1 morning-line favorite when entries for the 1 1/16-mile stakes were drawn Wednesday.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – A field of seven entered Saturday’s Grade 3, $100,000 Discovery Handicap, a 1 1/8-mile race that is the last open graded stakes of the season for 3-year-olds in New York.

The $1.1 million Challenge Championships at Fair Grounds in New Orleans on Friday night will bring together some of the best Quarter Horses in training to compete in a series of divisional stakes. The program is topped by four Grade 1 events, including the $350,000 Championship in which Stolis Winner bids to become the all-time richest Quarter Horse.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. – Jaycito, the winner of the Grade 1 Norfolk Stakes at Hollywood Park in October and seventh in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile at Churchill Downs on Nov. 6, was transferred from trainer Mike Mitchell to Bob Baffert earlier this week, the trainers said on Wednesday.

Owned by Ahmad Zayat, Jaycito has one victory in four starts, and has earned $210,000. He is considered one of the top 2-year-old males in Southern California.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Trainer Mark Frostad has enjoyed a solid meeting at Woodbine Racetrack this year, already surpassing his 2009 totals with 23 wins and purses of $2,284,423 heading into the final three weekends.

Those success rates, achieved from just 93 starters, include six stakes wins courtesy of Grand Adventure and Hotep – with a pair apiece – and New Normal and Windward Islands with singles.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. – Zenyatta has been officially retired and her new home beginning next month will be Lane’s End Farm near Versailles, Ky., the farm announced on Wednesday.

Zenyatta, whose 19-race unbeaten streak ended with a second-place finish by a head to Blame in the Breeders’ Cup Classic at Churchill Downs on Nov. 6, is expected to be flown to Kentucky in early December, trainer John Shirreffs said on Wednesday.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Hailstone stands out in Friday’s feature at Woodbine Racetrack, a first-level allowance for 3-year-olds and up, and his readiness off a seven-month layoff is what handicappers must ponder when sizing up his chances in the seven-furlong sprint.

Hailstone, a 3-year-old trained by Mark Casse, possesses a high-quality pedigree. He is by City Zip and out of Weekend Storm, the dam of Grade 1 Woodbine Mile winner Court Vision and stakes winner Smart Surprise. There are two classic winners from his second dam, Summer Squall and A.P. Indy.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Night racing in the fall at Churchill Downs already made an enormous impact on the sport when Blame edged out Zenyatta in that unforgettable running of the Breeders’ Cup Classic less than two weeks ago. There won’t be any such drama here Friday, but there is an historical aspect in store: It’s the first night program ever run here in the fall, and it’s designed to elicit the same kind of enthusiastic response that fans have been giving in the spring.