American Pharoah, the Eclipse Award-winning 2-year-old male of 2014, and Texas Red, the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile winner, were assigned the co-high weight of 126 pounds in the Experimental Free Handicap, a weight-based ranking of the previous year’s 2-year-olds put out annually by The Jockey Club that was released on Thursday.

The Experimental weights are based on a theoretical race at 1 1/16 miles on dirt, the exact conditions of the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile and the FrontRunner Stakes, a race won by American Pharoah. The 126-pound figure is the standard high weight assignment.

ELMONT, N.Y. - Dodging one storm that canceled training here Saturday and avoiding a second storm that will likely cancel training here on Tuesday, El Kabeir managed to get in an important five-furlong workout Sunday morning in preparation for the Grade 3 Withers Stakes at Aqueduct on Feb. 7.

Working shortly after 9:30 a.m. on a freshly harrowed Belmont Park training track that would likely be termed “good,” El Kabeir breezed a solid five furlongs in 1:01.47, getting his final quarter in 23.72 seconds. He galloped out six furlongs in 1:14.86 under exercise rider Simon Harris.

$400,000 Holy Bull Stakes, 1 1/16 miles, Gulfstream Park, Jan. 24, 2015

 (10 Derby qualifying points for a win, 4 for second, 2 for third, 1 for fourth)

 Winner: Upstart

 Trainer: Rick Violette

 Jockey: Jose Ortiz

 Owner: Ralph Evans

 Beyer Speed Figure: 105

I wish all horses ran consistently from race to race, but that is not reality. I have no particular explanation for why Eagle ran so poorly in last Saturday’s Lecomte Stakes other than it is horse racing. He got a 93 Beyer Speed Figure when third in the Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes but just a 72 when he never ran at all in the Lecomte. International Star won the Lecomte with just an 89, a five-point improvement from his Kentucky Jockey Club performance. War Story continued forward with an 85 in the Lecomte.

Trainer Neil Howard said Eagle had come out of his seventh-place finish in the Lecomte Stakes at Fair Grounds in apparently good physical condition, to the extent that Howard decided to send Eagle back to the track on Tuesday. Many horses get more than just two walk days in the barn after racing.

“He was getting pretty high on me already,” Howard said.

Howard said he and owner-breeder Will Farish plan to push on to the Risen Star unless Eagle gives Howard cause to think otherwise in coming weeks.

Tiznow R J will likely get another chance to move toward the Louisiana Derby and, if he continues developing, points beyond, in the Grade 2 Risen Star Stakes on Feb. 21.

$150,000 Smarty Jones Stakes, one mile, Oaklawn, Jan. 19, 2015
(10 Derby qualifying points for a win, 4 for second, 2 for third, 1 for fourth)

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Far Right came through on the rail, as even-money favorite Mr. Z drifted out sharply, to win a harried dash to the wire in the $150,000 Smarty Jones at Oaklawn Park on Monday. Bayerd nabbed second, finishing 1 3/4 lengths behind Far Right. Mr. Z was another half-length back in third, while Private Prospect finished fourth.

The Smarty Jones was the first stakes in Oaklawn’s four-race series for 3-year-olds that runs through the Grade 1, $1 million Arkansas Derby on April 11.

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Mr. Z has run too well not to be a stakes winner, having placed in five graded races in his young career. But his status could change Monday, when he starts as the probable favorite in the $150,000 Smarty Jones at Oaklawn Park.

The Smarty Jones, a one-mile race for 3-year-olds that ends at the sixteenth pole, is the meet’s first look at horses targeting the Arkansas Derby.

BOYNTON BEACH, Fla. – With five runners nominated to next Saturday’s Grade 3, $400,000 Holy Bull Stakes at Gulfstream Park, trainer Kiaran McLaughlin would appear to have a hammerlock on the race. But he said Friday that he will try to divide and conquer with his bevy of 3-year-olds, splitting the quintet among different spots while reserving the Holy Bull for the highly regarded Frosted, who finished second in the Remsen Stakes in his final start at age 2.