HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - John Velazquez does not ride very often for trainer Nick Zito, so it came as somewhat of a surprise, even to Velazquez, when he was named aboard Commentator for Thursday's allowance feature at Gulfstream Park, a one-mile race in which Commentator cruised to a 14-length victory in track-record time.

But despite having done little business together in the afternoon, the two men have plenty of history together, dating back to the summer of 1990 when Velazquez was a bug boy and also the exercise rider for Zito's first Kentucky Derby winner, Strike the Gold.

NEW ORLEANS - On Monday evening, Curlin is expected to be named the 2007 Horse of the Year. On Friday morning at Fair Grounds, he was given his first five-furlong work since winning the Breeders' Cup Classic.

Curlin was timed in 1:04, taking the next step forward in trainer Steve Asmussen's training regimen. Curlin had previously recorded two four-furlong works this year.

"He's progressing," said Asmussen. "I'm very comfortable with where he's at."

OZONE PARK, N.Y. - When David Jacobson decided to return to training horses after a 25-year hiatus, all his friends told him how much the game has changed. Eight months into his second incarnation as a claiming trainer, Jacobson sees the same game he left a quarter-century ago.

ARCADIA, Calif. - Do not count out Surf Cat, or his trainer, Bruce Headley. Both are ready for big comebacks in 2008.

Headley, 73, is back to daily appearances at his Santa Anita stable after having a pacemaker installed late last year and fighting off a pesky cold earlier this month. The horse he considers to be the top seed in his massive stable is Surf Cat, the four-time stakes winner who starts in Monday's $150,000 Palos Verdes Handicap at Santa Anita.

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - Trainer David Vance is not yet back walking following an automobile accident in December, but his horses are running at Oaklawn. Vance's stable is settled in at his longtime winter base, and his daughter, Trisha, has been overseeing the 18-horse barn. She said her father is in therapy in Louisville, Ky., and is expected to make a trip to Arkansas in about a month.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Time will tell if Santa Anita's Cushion Track surface will have its drainage problems alleviated by the addition of binding materials and fibers from the synthetic Pro-Ride surface in upcoming weeks. But trainers in Kentucky familiar with the Pro-Ride surface say they have been pleased training horses over it.

PORTLAND, Ore. - Ex Mountain Cop, who set the Portland Meadows track on its ear with four straight stakes wins by a combined 33 3/4 lengths in 2006, is on the comeback trail.

Ex Mountain Cop, 4, suffered an injury to a suspensory ligament at Golden Gate in January of last year and trainer Jonathan Nance feared the injury would end his career. The trainer is now far more optimistic.

Breeders' Cup Sprint winner Midnight Lute will skip the Grade 2 Palos Verdes Handicap on Monday and make his 2008 debut Feb. 16 in the Grade 2, seven-furlong San Carlos Handicap, trainer Bob Baffert said late Thursday afternoon.

"He would have to gut it out going 6 1/2 furlongs, and I don't think he's ready for it," Baffert said. "He worked so good last week that I got excited. But it's a long year, and I don't want to get ahead of myself. We'll stick to our original plan."

ARCADIA, Calif. - Santa Anita will ask the California Horse Racing Board for additional racing dates, likely in March or April, to make up for three days of racing lost because of wet weather earlier this month and two days the track is scheduled to miss for main-track maintenance, track president Ron Charles said on Thursday.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Coming off a loss as the 3-5 favorite in an allowance race at Philadelphia Park on New Year's Day, Angliana figures to be overlooked by bettors in Saturday's $75,000 Aqueduct Handicap.

But considering what the horse went through last spring, Angliana may deserve a second look as a value play in the 89th running of the Aqueduct.