HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - Larry Jones is coming off his best year as a trainer, with $2.8 million in stable earnings and 14 stakes wins, but he could take things to a whole new level this year.

Jones trains the undefeated 3-year-old Hard Spun, who last weekend ran his record to 4 for 4 in the Grade 3 Lecomte at Fair Grounds. It was a big step on the road to the Kentucky Derby for Hard Spun, who is one of 40 horses Jones has on the grounds this meet at Oaklawn Park. His stable also includes Grade 1 winner Wildcat Bettie B.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Most horses at the age of 6 are winding down their careers. The way trainer Richard Dutrow Jr. sees it, Liquor Cabinet may just be getting started on his.

"He's got a future in front of him, it looks like to me," Dutrow said.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Pete Vestal has called Louisville home for nearly 30 years, but this is his first full winter here. Vestal, 55, has spent the last 20 winters at Oaklawn Park, and before that at a wide variety of warm-climate venues befitting a lifelong racetracker and veteran trainer.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Donn Handicap Day is already expected to feature likely Horse of the Year Invasor and top 3-year-old prospect Nobiz Like Shobiz, and it may get even better now that trainer Marty Wolfson is pointing Breeders' Cup Mile winner Miesque's Approval to the $100,000 Canadian Turf Handicap. The card will be run Feb. 3.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. - The bad news for five horses in Thursday's eighth race is that the Gary Contessa-trained horses Lost Going Home and Star of Trieste own the best last-out Beyer Speed Figures in the field. The good news is that only one of the two will start. The race, a $46,000 first-level allowance at 1 1/8 miles, also includes Rhythmn Master, Sweetiewheatie, Tall Story, R J's Brigade, and Wing Man.

"I'm leaning toward Lost Going Home," said Contessa. "I'm only going to run one, because the exact same race comes up two or three days later."

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Pleasant Laughter ran the best race of her career last winter at Gulfstream Park, rallying to a 3 3/4-length victory over second-level allowance competition. Unfortunately, Pleasant Laughter chipped her ankle in the race and has not been able to reproduce the effort in four starts since returning from that injury in August.

ARCADIA, Calif. - Jockey Martin Garcia, a finalist for the Eclipse Award as the nation's outstanding apprentice of 2006 and one of the leading riders at the Santa Anita winter meeting, may not ride this week after being hospitalized following a spill Sunday.

Garcia remained hospitalized late Monday, complaining of back soreness. His agent, Roger Olguin, said doctors have informed him that Garcia did not suffer any major injuries in the spill.

Jump On In showed flashes of brilliance as a 2-year-old in 2006 but ended the year without a stakes win. She reached that level of accomplishment in her first start of the new year in Monday's $150,000 Santa Ynez Stakes for 3-year-old fillies at Santa Anita.

Ridden by Corey Nakatani, Jump On In ($3.80) pulled away in the final furlong to win the Grade 2 race over seven furlongs by 3 3/4 lengths. She was timed in 1:23.45, easily beating Quick Little Miss.

The 10 riders recently banned at tracks in Florida and Pennsylvania will not be allowed to ride at Turfway Park, according to Bob Elliston, president of Turfway.

Elliston said Tuesday that in separate discussions with Heriberto Rivera, a Jockeys' Guild representative, and Terry Houghton, a rider who was barred from Tampa Bay Downs in December, he advised the banned riders not to seek mounts at the track. None of the riders has attempted to ride at Turfway.

The countdown to Dubai World Cup Night begins at Nad Al Sheba on Thursday when the Dubai International Racing Carnival kicks off with Round 1 of the $200,000 Maktoum Challenge.

The Group 3 mile is the highlight of an eight-race card worth $900,000, but it is unlikely to produce a serious candidate for the $6 million Dubai World Cup on March 31.