MIAMI - Motovato overcame traffic problems on a couple of occasions through the stretch before running down longshot Dream Maestro to register a well-deserved neck victory in Saturday's at Calder. Biker Boy, the 3-5 favorite, finished a tiring fifth after stalking the pace into the stretch.

The seven-furlong Kenny Noe lost some of its luster when This Ones for Phil, the starting highweight at 120 pounds, was one of three horses scratched out of the Grade 3 dash earlier in the day.

ARCADIA, Calif. - Crown of Thorns, the runner-up in the Breeders' Cup Sprint last month, has battled a severe throat ulcer in recent weeks that threatens his participation in the Santa Anita winter-spring meeting, trainer Richard Mandella said on Saturday.

The ulcer was detected after the BC Sprint, in which Crown of Thorns finished a nose behind race winner Dancing in Silks.

"If I had seen it before the race, I would not have run him," Mandella said.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Buddy's Saint, considered among the top 3-year-old prospects in the country when the 2010 season begins next week, made his first appearance over the racetrack at Gulfstream Park on Saturday after arriving in south Florida from New York last Wednesday.

In his last 13 starts dating back to July 2008, Digger made just one appearance in a stakes, finishing a distant fifth, and ran for a claiming tag six times. But he apparently relished the wet-fast surface he caught on Aqueduct's inner track Saturday afternoon.

Sent to the front by jockey Anna Napravnik, the 5-year-old Digger opened up by 1 1/2 lengths, then had just enough to hold off 3-5 favorite Pashito the Che by a nose to capture the

ARCADIA, Calif. - The comeback boys are reunited on Sunday.

After taking five weeks off to have a bothersome finger surgically repaired, jockey Tyler Baze was scheduled to return to action on Saturday at Santa Anita. On Sunday, he hooks up anew with the comebacking Lava Man, who is scheduled to make his first start since July 2008 in the Grade 2, $150,000 San Gabriel Handicap.

Some 18 months ago, Fabio Arguello Jr. was helping his brother in the painting business in Louisville, Ky.

It was a humbling experience and a far cry from the days of the early 1990s, when Arguello was a top jockey in Kentucky, earning thousands of dollars a week.

"My brother had cancer, and I wasn't getting very many mounts anyway," Arguello said. "In the back of my mind, though, I knew I wanted to get back to riding and what I love."

Sourdough Sam, Northern California's top 3-year-old prospect, has been sidelined with a shin problem and will not be pointed to the Kentucky Derby, trainer Dean Pederson said.

Sourdough Sam rallied to win the one-mile Gold Rush Stakes at Golden Gate Fields on Dec. 12, looking like a horse who would appreciate more distance. But he came out of the race with "some minor issues," Pederson said, and is being given time off.

"It's disappointing with a young horse given the time of the year," Pederson said. "There will be no surgery needed."

WHO'S HOT

Paco Lopez

A year ago, Lopez was barred from riding at Calder for reasons track officials never specifically addressed. Lopez, who captured the 2008 riding title and went on to be named the year's Eclipse Award-winning apprentice jockey, was ultimately granted permission to ride here again in 2009. He returned earlier this month after spending the summer and most of the fall on the New Jersey circuit and wasted little time making his presence felt, winning six races last week, including riding doubles on Dec. 17 and 19.

When a horse runs off to a huge lead, and the pack catches up to him, he's usually done. Engulfed. Toast.

But Presious Passion is defying that conventional notion. For nearly two years, competing at some of the highest levels of American turf racing, he has been speeding away to eye-popping leads, then somehow hanging in there, usually winning or earning a sizable check.

"He likes doing what he does," said Mary Hartmann, who trains Presious Passion, a 6-year-old gelding, for Frank and Patricia Generazio. "It makes him happy."

WHO'S HOT

The big three - Joel Rosario, Rafael Bejarano, and Garrett Gomez - get the publicity, but another rider may be coming into his own.

Joe Talamo looks ready to make it a big four. After missing a week because he was riding in Hong Kong, Talamo returned without missing a beat, topped off by a hat trick last Friday. He came back with a big Sunday, clicking with four of his mounts, earning second in the standings. His fine meet may be the launching pad for a strong Santa Anita run and a chance to challenge the big three.