ARCADIA, Calif. - Santa Anita’s return to a dirt surface this season prompted trainer Steve Asmussen to finally send a string of horses to the West Coast, and California fans are quickly realizing that wherever Asmussen runs, he wins.

ARCADIA, Calif. – Comma to the Top, who has emerged as the leading 3-year-old in California in the last two months, is likely to make his next start in the $200,000 El Camino Real Derby at Golden Gate Fields on Feb. 12.

Trainer Peter Miller said Thursday that the El Camino Real Derby over 1 1/8 miles on Golden Gate’s synthetic Tapeta Footings surface is preferred to the $250,000 Robert Lewis Stakes over 1 1/8 miles on a dirt track at Santa Anita the same day.

“At this point, we’re leaning toward Golden Gate,” Miller said. “We know he likes that track.”

MIAMI – Kathy Ritvo watched the 2008 Kentucky Derby on television with her cardiologist in the critical care unit of Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami. Suffering from cardiomyopathy, or a severe deterioration of the heart muscle, Ritvo was in the first month of an interminable wait for a donor. She spent the next six months hooked up to an intravenous machine that provided medication to keep her heart functioning, uncertain whether she would live to see another Derby. Much of that time, she was confined to Jackson Memorial as the search for a donor continued.

LEXINGTON, Ky. − The Factor’s recent record-setting maiden win at Santa Anita opened a lot of eyes, but not Kim Valerio’s.

Valerio, 42, thought the War Front colt could be special much earlier, back when he was a yearling in search of a buyer. Valerio spotted him at Fasig-Tipton Kentucky’s July select yearling sale in 2009. When he failed to reach his reserve price in the auction ring, she bought him privately for $40,000.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Arthur’s Tale has the pedigree, connections, and price tag to be a significant horse. A nonfactor in his first three starts, Arthur’s Tale stepped up with a visually impressive maiden victory when stretched out around two turns for the first time in his last outing.

On Saturday, Arthur’s Tale moves into stakes company for the first time when he meets six rivals in the $65,000 Count Fleet – the first dirt stakes of the year for 3-year-olds – at a mile and 70 yards over Aqueduct’s inner track.

MIAMI – When trainer Steve Standridge and owner-breeder Bill Terrill made the decision to ship their Delta Jackpot winner Gourmet Dinner across country from his home base at Calder Race Course here to Hollywood Park for last Saturday’s CashCall Futurity, they didn’t expect the bumps in the road they would encounter prior to and during the running of the final Grade 1 race for 2-year-olds in 2010.

Grant Jack has made his way to Oaklawn following a win in last Saturday night’s $250,000 Springboard Mile at Remington Park and is to begin his 3-year-old season in the Arkansas track’s $100,000 Smarty Jones on Jan. 17.

“That will be his spot,” said Bret Calhoun, who trains Grant Jack for Wayne Sanders and Larry Hirsch.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. – Two months ago, Comma to the Top was believed to be best as a sprinter. It was the right assessment at the time, but it needed revision. Comma to the Top has developed into a successful router and taken an important role in major two-turn races at the end of his 2-year-old season.

Breeders’ Cup Juvenile winner Uncle Mo, the early favorite for the 2011 Kentucky Derby, arrived at the Palm Meadows training facility in Boynton Beach, Fla., shortly after noon on Wednesday to begin preparations for his 3-year-old campaign.

The Santa Anita Derby has been enriched from $750,000 to $1 million for next year’s running on April 9, part of an enhancement to the purse structure of Santa Anita’s prep races to the Triple Crown, the track announced Tuesday.

The boosting of the Santa Anita Derby is part of a $450,000 stimulus package to Santa Anita’s stakes races for 3-year-olds at the upcoming winter-spring meet, which opens Dec. 26. The track also has boosted the purses of two Santa Anita Derby prep races – the Robert Lewis and the San Felipe – from $150,000 to $250,000.