ARCADIA, Calif. – Hall of Fame jockey Mike Smith will ride Dark Vader for the first time when the 7-year-old gelding has his first start in 17 months in Saturday’s Grade 2 Palos Verdes Stakes at six furlongs at Santa Anita.

Trainer Peter Eurton said the $200,000 Palos Verdes is an opportunity to give Dark Vader a foundation for the rest of the year. Dark Vader has not raced since a last-place finish in a field of six in the Grade 1 Pacific Classic at 1 1/4 miles at Del Mar in August 2020.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Letruska, the widely presumed filly-mare champion of 2021, breezed for a second time since returning from a freshening when going a half-mile Sunday at the Palm Meadows training center in a bullet 46.80 seconds.

Trainer Fausto Gutierrez has pinpointed the Feb. 26 Royal Delta at Gulfstream Park as the 6-year-old debut for Letruska, whose four Grade 1 wins last year made her an obvious choice for a divisional Eclipse Award. The latest work followed a three-furlong breeze on Jan. 16.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Rattle N Roll, unraced since winning the Grade 1 Breeders’ Futurity at Keeneland in early October, returned to the work tab early Saturday at Gulfstream Park when breezing three furlongs in company.

Working alongside Creative Minister, an unraced 3-year-old like Rattle N Roll trained by Kenny McPeek, Rattle N Roll went in 36 seconds as McPeek looks to make up for time lost to a minor rear-foot injury.

ARCADIA, Calif. – The 4-year-old filly Distractedprincess remained undefeated after two starts with an easy win in an allowance race at a mile at Santa Anita on Sunday.

Distractedprincess has won two starts by a combined 19 1/2 lengths despite showing a lack of experience on Sunday, according to winning rider John Velazquez. Distractedprincess led throughout and pulled clear by 6 1/2 lengths, but raced in an erratic manner entering the stretch while leading comfortably.

“She got a little quirky and drifted out and I had to make her pay attention,” Velazquez said.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Preparing a horse to win a Grade 1 turf race at 1 1/8 miles following a layoff of nearly eight months has to be one of the more difficult assignments a horse trainer can tackle.

If Hall of Fame credentials are what’s required, well, Todd Pletcher hereby accepts. Enshrined in racing’s Hall in August, Pletcher will saddle Colonel Liam for a title defense Saturday in the $1 million Pegasus World Cup Turf at Gulfstream Park.

Indian Buzz, winner of the first race Sunday at Tampa at a $17.80 mutuel, marked the first starter for trainer Reynaldo Nobles since December 2013. Nobles is best known for his success with Deputy Minister in the early 1980s and Dehere in the early 1990s.

Nobles has trained off and on, including a stint from 2011-13 that followed a hiatus dating to 2004, while also intermittently working for years in security at the Palm Meadows training center on the Atlantic Coast.

Mr. Jagermeister goes next in the Pelican Stakes on Feb. 12 at Tampa Bay Downs after becoming the only horse to earn a triple-digit Beyer Speed Figure at the 2021-22 meet at the Oldsmar, Fla., track so far.

Trainer Valorie Lund, who co-owns Mr. Jagermeister with breeder Kristin Boice, said the six-furlong Pelican is a logical next spot after the Minnesota-bred star earned a 100 Beyer with a seven-length victory in a six-furlong allowance on Jan. 9.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Already flush with talent in the older male route division, WinStar Farm and trainer Todd Pletcher added to their cupboard Saturday with First Constitution, a dominant 6 3/4-length winner of Saturday’s $100,000 Jazil Stakes at Aqueduct.

First Constitution led every step of the way in the Jazil, ran 1 1/8 miles in 1:47.96, and earned a 100 Beyer Speed Figure for the performance which was done over an inside-favoring, fast-playing track. The win was First Constitution’s first in five starts in the United States.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – With Laurel Park and the New York Racing Association running essentially the same stakes this coming weekend, there figures to be a lot of hemming and hawing among horsemen as to where to run.

Case in point is Witty, winner of the Pennsylvania Nursery Stakes for Pennsylvania-breds at Parx in December. He is one of eight 3-year-olds nominated to both Saturday’s $100,000 Spectacular Bid Stakes at Laurel and Sunday’s $100,000 Jimmy Winkfield at Aqueduct. Both races are at seven furlongs.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Glass Ceiling likely earned a spot in the Grade 3, $250,000 Barbara Fritchie Stakes at Laurel Park on Feb. 19 by virtue of her decisive 5 1/4-length allowance victory at Aqueduct on Sunday.

Glass Ceiling rallied three wide in the lane under Dylan Davis and drew clear for the authoritative score, her third victory in her last four starts. Glass Ceiling ran seven furlongs in 1:22.25 and earned a 94 Beyer Speed Figure. Trainer Charlton Baker said Monday that the Fritchie, at seven furlongs, is “definitely the plan.”