NEW ORLEANS - Trainer Michael Stidham is off to his customary hot start at the Fair Grounds, and has yet to let his veterans loose on the oval.

Entering the weekend with 5 wins from 34 starts, Stidham looks poised to turn in another strong meet. He plans to send Secret Getaway, one of his stable's top horses, out to defend his crown in the Tenacious Handicap on Dec. 20.

Off since a disappointing fifth in the Grade 2 Cornhusker at Prairie Meadows on July 27, Secret Getaway has been training well over a track he loves.

It is not an uncommon story. A young man in his 20s, frustrated with his job prospects, decides to return to school.

What is uncommon is when a young man returns to school to become . . . a jockey.

That is the path Ben Creed took a little more than two years ago, when he left his job at UPS to join Hall of Fame jockey Chris McCarron's North American Riding Academy in Lexington. And now he finds himself not just a rider but currently the co-leading rider at Turfway Park.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. - The connections of Stardom Bound hope that a return to the West Coast will result in a return to form for the champion 2-year-old filly of 2008.

According to Michael Iavarone, co-president of the IEAH Stables, the majority owner in the filly, Stardom Bound will make her next start in the Grade 2, $150,000 El Encino Stakes at Santa Anita on Jan. 17. Stardom Bound has won four Grade 1 races at Santa Anita, including the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies in 2008.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. - For the second consecutive day, Hollywood Park needed two days to fill entries for a weekend card, and the product offered Sunday is similar to Saturday's program - low on horses.

Sunday's nine-race program drew 57 horses. Saturday's nine-race program drew 59 horses. The number of actual horses that will compete is expected to be lower after late scratches because of illness or injury.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. - There were high hopes for Honour Devil when he joined trainer Kiaran McLaughlin's New York stable in the spring. But as winter closes in and 2009 closes out, Honour Devil's promise has yet to be fulfilled.

The Argentine-bred Honour Devil gets one more chance to make an imprint on North American racing when he runs in Saturday's Grade 3, $100,000 Queens County Handicap at Aqueduct. It will be Honour Devil's final start here as he is expected to re-join his previous trainer, Michael de Kock in Dubai, following the Queens County.

Uh Oh Bango was to ship Friday to Turf Paradise, where he will winter as his connections plot a 3-year-old campaign that could run through the Kentucky Derby preps at Oaklawn or Sunland Park.

Uh Oh Bango put himself under consideration for such races after finishing second by a neck to Rule in the Grade 3, $750,000 Delta Jackpot on Dec. 4. The 1 1/16-mile race was the first two-turn start for Uh Oh Bango, and he earned a 95 Beyer Speed Figure for his performance.

MIAMI - Jackson Bend, the scourge of the local 2-year-old division this season, arrived at his winter home under trainer Nick Zito's shed at Palm Meadows on Wednesday afternoon.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Joe Talamo may seem a little lost this week.

Instead of going to the racetrack every day, working horses in the morning and riding in the afternoon, Talamo has found himself on a weeklong sojourn to ride California Flag in Sunday's Hong Kong Sprint in the Far East.

For Talamo, who turns 20 on Jan. 12, a day off, let alone nearly a week off, is for somebody else.

"I don't know what I'm going to do," he said last weekend before leaving for Hong Kong. "Maybe get some suits, do some sightseeing."

WHO'S HOT

OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Glen Kozak has one of those jobs where it's virtually impossible to please everyone most of the time.

As director of racing surfaces for the New York Racing Association, Kozak and his staff's performance affects horsemen, track management, and horseplayers, groups that are often at cross purposes. Listening to representatives from all groups, however, Kozak has earned rave reviews since taking over for John Passero in September 2008.