MIAMI - Nick Zito is well known for numerous outstanding accomplishments during his training career, which ultimately resulted in his election two years ago into the Racing Hall of Fame. But until this past month, Zito was never known as the King of Calder.

Zito has become a dominant factor during the final month of the Tropical at Calder session. He has sent out eight winners from just 23 starters at the meet, and the majority of those victories have come with young, lightly raced juveniles gearing up for their 3-year-old campaigns this winter at Gulfstream Park.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. - The New York-bred Ferocious Fires will look to complete a well-managed and undefeated 3-year-old campaign on Friday when he heads a seven-horse field entered in a $48,000 third-level allowance race at Aqueduct.

The six-furlong race also carries an optional claiming tag of $75,000 for which three of the horses are eligible, including the gritty Spooky Mulder.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Fearful of being unable to ship horses out of Florida because of the recent outbreak of equine herpesvirus in several parts of the state, trainer Kiaran McLaughlin has sent probable Horse of the Year Invasor and Belmont Stakes winner Jazil back to New York.

Invasor and Jazil arrived at McLaughlin's barn at Belmont Park on Sunday and will train in New York for now, McLaughlin said Wednesday from his barn at the Palm Meadows training center in Florida. Of the nine reported cases of equine herpesvirus in Florida, none has come from horses stabled at Palm Meadows.

Far too many food analogies get drawn in New Orleans, where a love for the local cuisine is rivaled by a love of rhapsodizing over the local cuisine. And it would be easy to point out what a savory gumbo of a racing program Fair Grounds has cooked up for Friday: Two divisions of the Louisiana Futurity - one for fillies, the other for colts and geldings; a third-level turf allowance with potential stakes horses in it; and an entry-level two-turn allowance race for 2-year-old fillies thrown in for seasoning.

ARCADIA, Calif. - The Daily Racing Form columnist Joe Hirsch once said, "Good racing is good business." Santa Anita proved that on Tuesday.

Propelled by an opening-day card featuring full fields and a competitive 12-horse field in the Grade 1 Malibu Stakes, Santa Anita had the most successful Tuesday opening since the expansion of cross-town simulcast wagering.

ARCADIA, Calif. - The 2-year-old Double Major has changed remarkably since she won her initial start in November, trainer Clifford Sise says.

"She's just blossomed," Sise said.

He is banking on that helping the filly win her stakes debut in Friday's $125,000 California Breeders Champion Stakes at Santa Anita.

Sise trains Double Major for breeders Marty and Pam Wygod. He also trains the filly's older full siblings - the maiden Common Truth, 3, and Common Trust, a 4-year-old who has earned $110,560.

Double Major, he said, "was the ugly ducking" of the group.

ALBANY, Calif. - The 31-day Golden Gate Fields meeting couldn't have gotten off to a better start for trainer Jerry Hollendorfer.

Secret Scheme, his talented 3-year-old filly, won a stakes-quality allowance sprint in the meet's first race. Secret Scheme's effort has Hollendorfer looking at the Jan. 27 Sunshine Millions at Santa Anita and Gulfstream for her next start.

On Friday, Hollendorfer hopes to find a candidate for the Jan. 28 California Derby, sending out Bwana Bull and Regal Times - plus Gregorian Bay - in a one-mile allowance race for 2-year-olds.

ALBANY, Calif. – McCann’s Mojave ($6) got a perfect trip in winning his second straight race, capturing the $60,400 Union Square at Golden Gate Fields on Tuesday.

Just as he had in his previous start, an $80,000 optional claimer in the slop at Bay Meadows on Dec. 10, McCann’s Mojave sat just off Dr. Einstein. McCann’s Mojave took command into the second turn, beating Dr. Einstein by two lengths in 1:42.46 for 1 1/16 miles on a sloppy track. Dr. Einstein held off My Creed for second.

ARCADIA, Calif. – Latent Heat received a perfect stalking trip from jockey Edgar Prado, then spurted clear down the stretch to score a two-length victory in the Grade 1, $250,000 Malibu Stakes on Tuesday’s opening-day card at Santa Anita.

A crowd of 32,931 turned out for the Malibu, which drew 12 3-year-olds, including Brother Derek. But Brother Derek, the 2-1 favorite, made no impact down the stretch while finishing seventh.

A backstretch worker was stabbed and the man suspected of assaulting him was arrested Tuesday morning at Gulfstream Park. The man who was stabbed, identified by the Hallandale Beach Police Department as Bradley Crescione, was taken to a nearby hospital and was listed in serious condition Tuesday.