ARCADIA, Calif. – When she was ready, Hard Not to Love, winner of two graded stakes since Christmas, launched into a five-furlong workout on Friday morning at Santa Anita, starting slowly and finishing well in 1:01.40 without significant urging from jockey Mike Smith.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – The well-traveled 8-year-old War Story will be adding to those frequent flyer miles and in a big way later this month when he journeys halfway around the world for his next start in the $12 million Dubai World Cup.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – When the field for Thursday’s feature race left the backstretch and trainer George Weaver saw his 4-5 Up in Smoke suddenly drop to the rear of the field, he turned to his owners and commented “I don’t know what’s going on, she’s going to finish last.”

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Mylady Curlin will be seeking to win the fifth stakes race of her career Saturday when she runs in the Grade 2, $350,000 Azeri at Oaklawn Park.

The Azeri will share a card with the Grade 2, $1 million Rebel and the $350,000 Essex Handicap. The three races will be run over 1 1/16 miles.

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Break Even, a Grade 2 winner who is 6 for 8 in her career, could return to turf for her next start, according to trainer Brad Cox.

“We’ll look at the possibility of sprinting her on the grass at Keeneland, in the Giant’s Causeway,” Cox said Friday.

The $150,000 race, for fillies and mares at 5 1/2 furlongs on turf, is April 11.

Rafael Bejarano will become the latest jockey to forsake the Southern California circuit for Kentucky when he begins riding regularly at the upcoming spring meet at Keeneland.

Through his new Kentucky-based agent, Julio Espinoza, Bejarano cited fewer opportunities for choice mounts in recent times in California, where smaller fields and reduced purses have become the norm. Conversely, racing is on the rise in Kentucky as numerous jockeys and trainers have left California to compete there.

After 35 years, more than 2,300 wins and a four-year run as the leading trainer on the New York Racing Association circuit, Gary Contessa is seeking a new challenge.

Contessa, 62, announced on Thursday that he plans to quit training horses by the end of the month but he hopes to stay in the racing game.

“I’ve had enough of training,” Contessa said. “If you look at the bottom line, I’m losing money month after month after month. I’m tired of that, I’ve just had enough. It’s very tough.”

OLDSMAR, Fla. – Sole Volante was assigned post 7 as the morning-line favorite in a capacity field of 12 3-year-olds entered in the Grade 2, $350,000 Tampa Bay Derby, to be run for the 40th time Saturday at Tampa Bay Downs.

The 1 1/16-mile Tampa Bay Derby is one of three Kentucky Derby qualifiers across the country this weekend, along with the Gotham at Aqueduct and the San Felipe at Santa Anita. All three are worth 85 points (50-20-10-5).

Major Fed managed to finish second behind Modernist in the slower second division of the Risen Star while making only his third career start, second around two turns, and first against other winners. Major Fed is a colt with clear ability and classic lines, and Greg Foley, who trains him for owner-breeder Lloyd Madison, thinks Major Fed will find improvement in the Louisiana Derby.

“The horse, right this minute, is doing great and is just ready to go,” Foley said Wednesday.

His connections see no reason to force the pace of Enforceable’s training, and so the most accomplished 3-year-old dirt-route horse stabled at Fair Grounds will have only two works between the Feb. 15 Risen Star and the March 21 Louisiana Derby.