HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – It’s always a good thing when a trainer sends the defending champ to run in a $1 million race, as trainer Todd Pletcher will with Colonel Liam in the Pegasus World Cup Turf here on Jan. 29. But it never hurts to have a little backup just in case, as Pletcher now has with Never Surprised, who also is being pointed for the Pegasus Turf following a one-sided victory in Sunday’s Tropical Park Derby at Gulfstream Park.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. -- For the second straight card the pick six at Aqueduct was not hit, resulting in a $195,762 carryover heading into Friday’s eight-race card.

Since Friday is the last day of the calendar year, there will be a mandatory payout in the pick six, which will begin on race 3 (1:44 p.m. Eastern) and includes the $100,000 Alex M. Robb Handicap for New York-bred males.

Emerald Downs has boosted the purse of the Grade 3 Longacres Mile to $150,000 for its Aug. 14 running. Last year, the Longacres Mile was worth $100,000.

The Longacres Mile tops a slate of 21 stakes worth a total of $1,245,000 at the 2022 Emerald Downs meet, according to a release from the Auburn, Wash., track. The 52-day meet begins May 15.

There are three other stakes on the Aug. 14 card: the $75,000 Emerald Distaff, $75,000 Muckleshoot Derby, and $75,000 Washington Oaks. The purse for each of those stakes has been raised $25,000 from 2021.

The Sunland Park Derby will be run for the first time in three years on March 27 as part of the New Mexico track’s meet that opens on Friday. The race that carries eligibility points for the Kentucky Derby was last held in 2019, when Cutting Humor won over Anothertwistafate.

Sunland Park, which is located right across the border from El Paso, Texas, will race 55 dates through April 3. The track has a mixed-meet format that features races for Thoroughbreds and Quarter Horses.

Craig Dado recently left his position as a vice-president and chief marketing officer at Del Mar, ending a 30-year involvement in the promotion of Southern California racing.

In a statement released by Del Mar on Wednesday, Dado, 54, said he planned to pursue other business opportunities. Dado left Del Mar shortly after the conclusion of the track’s autumn meeting in late November.

Rockefeller, the winner of the Grade 3 Nashua Stakes at Aqueduct on Nov. 7, and Mackinnon, third in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf at Del Mar on Nov. 5, are part of an expected small field in Saturday’s Grade 3 Sham Stakes at Santa Anita.

The $100,000 Sham Stakes at a mile is the first race for 3-year-olds at the track’s winter spring meeting. The 3-year-old series leads to the Grade 1 Runhappy Santa Anita Derby on April 9.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Untreated won a two-turn maiden race impressively last March at Tampa Bay Downs, so his connections did what connections of a talented 3-year-old typically do at that time of year – ran him in a graded stakes race. Untreated finished eighth in the Grade 2 Blue Grass, 33 3/4 lengths behind winner Essential Quality.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – On New Year’s Day 2020, trainer Michael Trombetta won the Jerome Stakes at Aqueduct with a 3-year-old son of Constitution named Independence Hall. On New Year’s Day 2022, Trombetta try to pen some more Jerome history in the 152nd running of the race with another 3-year-old son of Constitution, named Mr Jefferson.

ARCADIA, Calif. – Hall of Fame jockey John Velazquez has relocated to Santa Anita for the winter-spring meeting for the first time and plans to stay through the end of March. Judging from the first two days of the season, the 50-year-old Velazquez could very well depart for Keeneland in early April at or near the top of the standings.

Velazquez had four wins on Sunday’s opening day, including the Grade 1 La Brea Stakes for 3-year-old fillies, and had one win on Monday’s program. Velazquez is booked to ride five horses on Friday’s nine-race program.

Trainer Bret Calhoun won Fair Grounds 3-year-old grass stakes on Monday with Excess Magic, who captured the Woodchopper, and Lovely Ride, who won the Pago Hop.

The day before, he found out what he needed to know regarding Tejano Twist, who loomed and faded in the Gun Runner, finishing second but beaten more than six lengths while making his two-turn debut. Tejano Twist was coming off a pair of sharp Kentucky sprint wins, and connections won’t press on with route racing.