OZONE PARK, N.Y. – The only non-claiming race on Thursday’s Aqueduct card is an $80,000 maiden race for 3-year-olds going six furlongs. Six of the eight horses in the field are first-time starters.

Trainer Rudy Rodriguez has the coupled entry of Rudy Rod and Hyperactive Chris, each making his debut Thursday. Rudy Rod, by Orb, is a half-brother to seven winners, including Tapizar, the 2012 Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile winner. Tapizar did not win first time out, but three progeny of Rudy Rod’s dam, Winning Call, did.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – One horse’s career is nearing its end while the other one’s is just getting started, but both Mills and Return the Ring have trainer Eddie Barker brimming with enthusiasm.

On Jan. 18, the 11-year-old Mills won an $8,000 claiming race at Aqueduct, his 10th victory from 78 starts in a career that began March 22, 2013. On Nov. 28, Return the Ring won his career debut at Aqueduct and is pointing to Sunday’s $100,000 Jimmy Winkfield Stakes for 3-year-olds.

Sharp Samurai, a five-time stakes winner who was third behind Knicks Go in the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile at Keeneland in November, has been retired from racing. Trainer Mark Glatt said over the weekend that Sharp Samurai will be sent to an equine retirement home.

Owned by Rancho Temescal, Red Baron’s Barn, and Glatt, Sharp Samurai won 8 of 23 starts and earned $1,111,270. The BC Dirt Mile was his final start. Sharp Samurai was scratched from the Grade 2 San Antonio Stakes on Dec. 26 at Santa Anita.

In the last six years, owners Pete and Kosta Hronis and trainer John Sadler have teamed to win Grade 1 races with Combatant, Gift Box, Hard Aces, and Higher Power, all purchased as horses of racing age.

Their most recent acquisition is Growth Engine, a 5-year-old Tapit gelding who is scheduled to have his California debut in Saturday’s Grade 2 San Pasqual Stakes at 1 1/8 miles at Santa Anita. Flavien Prat is booked to ride Growth Engine, Sadler said in a text message Sunday.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Knicks Go wasn’t the only horse to generate plenty of buzz here on Pegasus World Cup Day. Several hours earlier, trainer Brendan Walsh sent out the Godolphin homebred Prevalence to capture his career debut in spectacular fashion, winning off by 8 1/2 lengths. The 3-year-old son of Medaglia d’Oro covered seven furlongs in 1:23.00 and earned an 89 Beyer Speed Figure.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Thursday’s card will have back-to-back starter allowances as features. Dale Romans will send out Storm Runner as the 2-1 morning-line favorite in race 8, a $34,000 starter going a one-turn mile, while Payntdembluesaway is the 7-5 program choice for trainer Jane Cibelli in race 9, a $31,000 starter for filly-mare turf sprinters.

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HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Points races for the Kentucky Derby and Oaks are the highlights of the coming weekend at Gulfstream, with the Holy Bull and Forward Gal anchoring a busy Saturday program spotlighting 3-year-olds.

Sittin On Go, winner of the Grade 3 Iroquois on the 2020 Kentucky Derby undercard, will make his seasonal debut in the Grade 3, $200,000 Holy Bull, a 1 1/16-mile race offering Derby points on a 10-4-2-1 basis. The Brody’s Cause colt had his fifth breeze since a short layoff, going five furlongs here Saturday in 1:01.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – The Grade 1 Old Forester Turf Classic at Churchill Downs on Kentucky Derby Day, May 1, has been pinpointed as a target for Colonel Liam, whose victory as the favorite Saturday in the Pegasus World Cup Turf at Gulfstream Park suddenly finds the colt as a major player in the North American older turf-horse division.

“We don’t have a firm plan just yet,” said Todd Pletcher, who trains Colonel Liam for Robert and Lawana Low. “The question is what we’ll do with him between now and the Derby Day race.”

Antonio Gallardo is nearing the 2,000-win milestone after riding two winners Sunday. Gallardo enters this week with 1,997 wins, with 834 of those having come at Tampa.

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Nominations have been released for Festival Preview Day at Tampa Bay Downs on Feb. 6, when the Grade 3 Sam F. Davis is foremost among the four stakes to be run that day at the Oldsmar, Fla., track.

Most of the 37 3-year-olds nominated to the $200,000 Sam Davis have done little more than get through their maiden condition. Still, it’s a Kentucky Derby points qualifier (10-4-2-1) that should serve as a breakthrough for the winner.