Strong Tide is becoming a marathon runner of note. He turned in one of the biggest races of his career in a 1 3/16-mile race last out at Oaklawn Park and it could set him up for a start at 1 1/2 miles in the Grade 3, $200,000 John B. Connally Turf Cup on Jan. 30 at Sam Houston Race Park.

Chasing Time could soon be chasing after some qualifying points for the Kentucky Derby.

The impressive allowance winner is being considered for a start in the Grade 3, $750,000 Southwest on Jan. 29 at Oaklawn Park, trainer Steve Asmussen said Tuesday. The 1 1/16-mile race doles out Kentucky Derby points on a scale of 10-4-2-1.

California Cup Oaks winner Rose Dawson might have passed last week’s mile turf race.

“I had two options,” trainer Phil D’Amato noted, referring to an allowance on dirt and the Oaks on turf. “Pedigree-wise and the way she traveled and the way she was training” were reasons D’Amato chose the turf stake for the Grazen filly.

The other reason was Flavien Prat.

“When [Prat’s agent Brad Pegram] told me he was open for the race, it was a no-brainer,” D’Amato said.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. will return to the saddle here Saturday after being sidelined due to a knee injury suffered in a gate mishap two weeks earlier.

Regarding the fastest horse on the grounds, Flightline’s next start is unannounced. Santa Anita executives have met with Sadler to discuss how to ensure the undefeated colt stays home. Discussions are preliminary. Referring to Sadler, one official said, “The ball is in his court.”

Next-start options for Flightline include the Grade 2, $200,000 San Carlos at seven furlongs on March 5 at Santa Anita or the $500,000 Essex Handicap at 1 1/16 miles on March 19 at Oaklawn Park. Flightline’s main objective is the Grade 1 Met Mile, typically run on the Belmont Stakes card.

ARCADIA, Calif. – They say a good horse can come from anywhere. If so, then an unheralded gray who began her career on an obscure half-mile Canadian bullring could turn out to be something special this winter at Santa Anita.

Gracelund Gray charged out of her stall Monday morning like she wanted to run again, less than 24 hours after her dramatic California debut in an allowance turf sprint.

Hall of Fame jockey John Velazquez, who through Monday was second in the jockey standings at the Santa Anita winter-spring meeting, has launched an appeal of a recent three-day suspension for careless riding, according to his agent Ron Anderson.

Velazquez was cited for “failing to maintain a straight course through the stretch” on Con On the Run in the first race on Jan. 14, according to a ruling published on Saturday by track stewards Luis Jauregui, Will Meyers, and Kim Sawyer.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Trainer Brian Lynch is eyeing the Feb. 5 Holy Bull at Gulfstream Park for his Kentucky Derby hopeful Classic Causeway, who breezed five furlongs in 1:01.60 early Wednesday at the Palm Meadows training center. It was the third work for the Giant’s Causeway colt since he was second as the 7-5 favorite behind Smile Happy in the Nov. 27 Kentucky Jockey Club at Churchill Downs.

“There are other races we could go for, but right now the Holy Bull is on the radar for him,” said Lynch. “This latest work was really good and has us where we want to be.”

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Todd Pletcher trains five of the 23 separately listed wagering interests in Pool 2 of the Kentucky Derby Future Wager, which runs this Friday to Sunday. It’s a familiar position for a Hall of Fame trainer, whose 59 Derby starters is a record.

Mo Donegal, a last-out winner of the Dec. 4 Remsen, will be Pletcher’s only starter in the first major Derby prep of the year at Gulfstream Park, the Feb. 5 Holy Bull. The Uncle Mo colt has breezed every weekend at Pletcher’s winter base at Palm Beach Downs since Dec. 24.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Jockey Manny Franco has ended his working relationship with agent Angel Cordero Jr. and has hired Jon Panagot to represent him.

Franco and Cordero had worked together since the summer of 2015. Panagot will start working for Franco after the current condition book ends Feb. 6.

Franco, 27, led all riders in wins on the New York Racing Association circuit in 2019 and 2020 and was third, just two wins behind Irad Ortiz Jr., in 2021. Franco ranked third in purse money on the NYRA circuit in 2021 with $13.859 million.