BOYNTON BEACH, Fla. − So big is the Todd Pletcher empire here at the Palm Meadows training center that it takes not one, not two, but three barns to house all of his horses. Barn 11 is where Pletcher’s office is, Barn 12 is just across a horse path to the north, and a little farther north is Barn 0, reflecting a healthy respect for triskaidekaphobia.

The Jockey Club announced Thursday morning that Uncle Mo has been assigned 128 pounds atop the Experimental Free Handicap for colts and geldings of 2010, marking the highest impost in 13 years, while Awesome Feather has been named the 123-pound highweight in the filly division.

The 128 pounds for Uncle Mo, the divisional Eclipse Award winner and the early favorite for the 137th Kentucky Derby on May 7, is the same as what was assigned to Favorite Trick in 1997, when he was named Horse of the Year.

Another highly regarded 3-year-old nominated to but skipping the Holy Bull is Santiva, winner of the Grade 2 Kentucky Jockey Cup at Churchill Downs in his juvenile finale. Santiva is stabled at Palm Meadows this winter, where he’s just beginning to gear up for his 3-year-old season.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Trainer Rick Violette, who has an abundance of 3-year-old talent in his barn here this winter, had been considering both Leave of Absence and Rescind the Trade for Sunday’s Grade 3 Holy Bull. The decision became a moot point on Wednesday morning after Violette put Rescind the Trade on a van bound for snowy New York.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Boys At Tosconova, who was expected to start as the favorite in Sunday's Grade 3 Holy Bull Stakes, will not start, Gulfstream Park's racing secretary, Dan Bork, confirmed on Wednesday.

Bork said that trainer Rick Dutrow had informed the track's stakes coordinator, Duano Christo, that Boys at Tosconova was not running in the Holy Bull.

"It's a shame he's not going to run," said Bork, " but I think we'll still have a solid field of seven or eight horses in the race."

ARCADIA, Calif. – Tapizar, winner of the Grade 3 Sham Stakes in his stakes debut at Santa Anita on Jan. 15, will make his next start in the $250,000 Robert Lewis Stakes over 1 1/8 miles on Feb. 12, trainer Steve Asmussen said Wednesday.

Tapizar won the Sham Stakes over 1 1/16 miles by 4 1/4 lengths, leading throughout. Owned by Winchell Thoroughbreds, Tapizar won a maiden race at Churchill Downs by 10 1/2 lengths on Nov. 27, his fourth career start.

Hawthorne Race Course received permission from the Illinois Racing Board on Tuesday to reduce the purse of the Grade 3 Illinois Derby from $500,000 to $250,000. The racing board also approved Hawthorne’s request to postpone the Grade 3, $200,000 Sixty Sails until sometime during the track’s fall meet, and to eliminate four Sundays from the Hawthorne race dates the board had approved last fall.

It’s possible the one-two finishers from Saturday’s Grade 3 Lecomte Stakes for 3-year-olds won’t be back to contest the Grade 2 Risen Star Stakes on Feb. 19 at Fair Grounds, but Lecomte last-place finisher Justin Phillip has been lightly penciled in for the race despite a disappointing performance Saturday.

Wilkinson won the Lecomte by a head over Pants On Fire, who set a slow pace (48.94 seconds to the half-mile) on a moderate-to-quick playing surface but could not hold the winner. Wilkinson’s one mile, 40-yard time produced a Beyer speed figure of 77.

 J P’s Gusto worked seven furlongs in 1:25.40 on Monday at Santa Anita, preparing for his expected 3-year-old debut in the $250,000 Robert Lewis Stakes over 1 1/8 miles on Feb. 12.

Trainer David Hofmans said that JP’s Gusto worked the final quarter-mile in 23.20 seconds. JP’s Gusto was ridden in the workout by Iggy Puglisi.

“He loves this track,” Hofmans said. “Iggy said he goes so effortlessly over it.”

NEW ORLEANS – The Lecomte Stakes is a race for 3-year-olds. It should come as no surprise that Neil Howard won it.