HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Probably the most surprising news of the past weekend came late Sunday afternoon when agent Tito Fuentes revealed that his jockey Edgard Zayas had just ridden his last mount until the spring and would undergo arthroscopic surgery to repair his injured left shoulder Monday morning.

Zayas has certainly showed no signs of any issues throughout the 2021 season, having won 225 races, including 11 since the Championship meet opened earlier this month. He is second in the Gulfstream jockey standings, just one win behind Paco Lopez.

Maryland racing officials are confident that Laurel Park will return to live racing beginning Thursday after a more than two-week hiatus to address inconsistencies in the dirt track, the general counsel to the state’s horsemen said Monday.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Juan Vazquez and Mitch Friedman aren’t names typically seen atop the trainer standings at a New York Racing Association meet. But through the first week of Aqueduct’s four-month winter session, Vazquez is the leader with four wins followed by Friedman with three.

All four of Vazquez’s wins came last Friday with Cazilda Fortytales ($8), and favorites My Roxy Girl ($4.90), Repo Rocks ($7.20) and El Mayor ($7).

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Trainer Rudy Rodriguez has given several of his top horses a break for the winter, but he will press on with Magic Circle, the third-place finisher in the Grade 2 Demoiselle. Rodriguez said the $100,000 Busanda on Jan. 23 is on her schedule.

Magic Circle finished third behind Nest and Venti Valentine in the Demoiselle, coming out under a left-handed whip and nearly interfering with Venti Valentine.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – The first stakes of Aqueduct’s winter meet didn’t go as trainer Rob Atras had hoped, with Sadie Lady finishing fourth in last Saturday’s $100,000 Garland of Roses.

Atras will hope for better results this weekend when he runs Chateau in Sunday’s $100,000 Gravesend Stakes and the pair of Olliemyboy and You’re to Blame in the $125,000 Queens County, also on Sunday.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – The first time Safe Conduct ever stepped on a synthetic racetrack, he liked it so much he went out and won the $1 million Queen’s Plate on Aug. 22 at Woodbine. The second time came late Monday morning at Gulfstream Park, where Safe Conduct worked an easy five furlongs in 1:00.72 with exercise rider Lisa Bartkowski aboard.

The work was the first for Safe Conduct since his second-place finish behind Never Surprised on the turf in the Gio Ponti Stakes on Nov. 26 at Aqueduct. He is prepping for the Tropical Park Derby on turf here Dec. 26.

The Louisiana Racing Commission on Monday voted to postpone for 30 days action on Delta Downs’s request to resume night racing on Fridays and Saturdays after jockeys raised concerns about the new track lighting system, which has undergone upgrades. Delta will continue with daytime posts from Wednesdays through Saturdays.

Unraced since July 3, when he was narrowly beaten in the Suburban Stakes, 2021 Dubai World Cup winner Mystic Guide hit another milestone toward his return to racing when he had his first post-layoff timed workout Sunday at Fair Grounds.

This was merely a three-furlong drill clocked in 37.80 seconds, but the work left a positive impression on Michael Stidham, who trains the Godolphin homebred.

“Beautiful. He floated over the track. He looked great, did it the right way, and we’re happy to get him back going,” Stidham said.

Early in 2021, Brad Cox was scouting Concert Tour, watching him train and race and wondering how his own promising 3-year-olds stacked up against the Bob Baffert-trained colt. In the Arkansas Derby, Cox-trained Caddo River finished second, a head in front of Concert Tour.

Fast forward to fall and Cox’s perspective has radically changed: He now trains Concert Tour, and after the colt had his first work at Fair Grounds, going a half-mile in 49.80 seconds Sunday morning, Cox is scouting condition books, looking for a race.

“He’s getting very close,” Cox said.

Tom Amoss on Sunday confirmed the retirement of Grade 1-winning Louisiana-bred sprinter No Parole.

No Parole on Saturday finished last of 10 in the Louisiana Champions Day Sprint at Fair Grounds, that following a start Oct. 30 at Delta Downs in which he was eased.

The Delta race was No Parole’s first since he finished last on April 17 in the Count Fleet at Oaklawn Park, and No Parole, a 4-year-old Violence colt owned by Maggi Moss and Greg Tramontin, clearly had lost the ability that won him the Grade 1 Woody Stephens in June 2020.