ARCADIA, Calif. - If he is not the top 3-year-old in California, he is the top one missing from the Kentucky Derby early nominations list. Mr. Hot Stuff's convincing maiden win Sunday in his fifth start catapulted the full brother to Colonel John onto the Derby trail, even if the first deadline for Derby nominations has come and gone.

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - Old Fashioned rolled into the Oaklawn Park backstretch at 1:55 p.m. Tuesday, and Rachel Alexandra had a significant work here Sunday, signs that the track's first two major stakes for 3-year-olds are right around the corner.

Old Fashioned, an early favorite for the Kentucky Derby, is targeting the Grade 3, $250,000 Southwest on Feb. 16. Rachel Alexandra, one of the top candidates for the Kentucky Oaks, put in a five-furlong drill in preparation for the $50,000 Martha Washington on Feb. 15.

Trainers Greg Gilchrist and Steve Specht are loading up for Saturday's $75,000 Campanile Stakes, a 1 1/16-mile race for fillies and mares. Gilchrist plans to send out both Sky Mystic and Victorina. Specht said he would enter both Lady Railrider and Shes a Lucky Wager, although he is not certain if either will run.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Jockey Julien Leparoux admits he really didn't know what to expect when he decided to join perhaps the toughest jockey colony in the country and ride full time at Gulfstream Park for the first time this winter. And after getting off to a bit of a slow start, the French-born rider might have been second-guessing himself for making that choice.

NEW ORLEANS - Steve Asmussen has three horses to run in the Risen Star Stakes this year, which is all well and good, but last year, Asmussen had the horse for the Risen Star. Pyro, the 4-5 favorite a year ago, did not disappoint, launching a memorable last-to-first stretch move that, alas, he was unable to duplicate the rest of his career.

So, while Asmussen has plenty of cards, he's not bluffing up his Risen Star hand. "It ain't Pyro," he said Tuesday.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Robbie Davis arrived in the Aqueduct racing office last Friday prepared for his first post position draw in his new career as a jockey agent. Unbeknown to Davis, under Aqueduct's new entry schedule, there was no draw that day.

"I got a lot to learn," Davis said.

Perhaps. But as the winner of 3,382 races and the rider of horses that earned $115 million in purses during a 22-year career, Davis has a lot to teach as well. And who better to share his wisdom with than his own daughter Jackie, who began riding last year.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - A week after Keeneland Race Course cut stakes purses for its spring meet, Churchill Downs announced stakes purse reductions to its spring meet, which begins April 25 and continues through July 5.

Two stakes - the $100,000 Opening Verse Handicap and the $100,000 Mamzelle Stakes - were not scheduled for 2009, and 10 other stakes purses were cut, resulting in stakes purses dropping from $8.1 million in 2008 to $7.575 million for 2009.

The track's five Grade 1 races, including the Kentucky Derby and Kentucky Oaks, were unaffected by the cuts.

ARCADIA, Calif. - In a season without a standout among California's older horses, trainer Doug O'Neill may have an advantage: He has numbers on his side.

This weekend, O'Neill has starters in the two major stakes for older horses at Santa Anita - Slew's Tiznow in Saturday's $250,000 Strub Stakes for 4-year-olds and Informed in Sunday's $200,000 San Antonio Handicap. Both races are run over 1 1/8 miles and are preps for the $1 million Santa Anita Handicap on March 7.

OZONE PARK, N.Y.- As a veterinarian on the New York Racing Association circuit for the past 20 years, Russell Cohen has tended to some pretty special horses - such as Gulch, Manila, Meadow Star, and Memories of Silver.

As a breeder for almost the same period of time, Cohen has had limited success, most notably the New York-bred Double Dee's, who won the Grade 2 Cotillion in 1996 and banked nearly $300,000 in a 20-race career.

Assiniboia Downs has decided on a major shake-up in its live racing schedule for 2009, eliminating Sunday racing except for one program.

The typical live racing week at the Winnipeg, Manitoba, oval now will be Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday evenings, with first post set for 7 p.m.