HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – The quarantine of Gulfstream Barn 3 will remain in effect until mid-March, even though there is no apparent danger to horses stabled there. Track officials said a horse who recently tested positive for equine infectious anemia, or swamp fever, has been shipped off the premises to a private farm in nearby Davie. All remaining horses have tested negative for the disease, but a 45-day quarantine is mandated by the Florida Department of Agriculture.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Thoracic fusion surgery for Romero Maragh has been deemed successful and the 18-year-old apprentice rider now faces a lengthy rehabilitation before he can return to the saddle.

Maragh underwent surgery Friday at Aventura Hospital to fuse five vertebrae (T5 through T9) following a Thursday spill at Gulfstream Park. Trainer Aubrey Maragh, his uncle, said doctors were “very happy with how the surgery went” and that Romero Maragh on Sunday “actually was on his feet, doing a little walking.”

Emerald Downs will run 27 stakes worth a total of more than $1.5 million during its 2019 racing season, which begins April 20 and runs for 67 dates through Sept. 22.

The biggest day of the meet is Aug. 11, when the Grade 3, $200,000 Longacres Mile for 3-year-olds and up will be run for the 84^th time and on its earliest date ever. Three other stakes will be run that day, each worth $50,000: the Emerald Distaff for fillies and mares, the Muckleshoot Derby for 3-year-olds, and the Washington Oaks for 3-year-old fillies.

ARCADIA, Calif. – Joe Talamo dismounted from Mucho Gusto after a second-place finish in the Grade 1 Los Alamitos Futurity in December and was ready for the build-up to the 2019 Triple Crown.

“He’s a hard-trying sonofagun,” Talamo said at the time. “I can feel he’s getting better.”

Two months later, Mucho Gusto has improved. The colt won his first start of 2019 in Saturday’s Grade 3 Robert Lewis Stakes at 1 1/16 miles on a sealed and sloppy track at Santa Anita to solidify his position among trainer Bob Baffert’s hopes for the spring classics.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Despite his disappointing third-place finish as the 4-5 favorite in Saturday’s Grade 2 Holy Bull, trainer Robert “Butch” Reid Jr. said he hasn’t lost any confidence in his previously undefeated 3-year-old prospect Maximus Mischief.   

“We’re still very high on him. The race didn’t knock down our expectations any, it just proved he’s mortal, like the rest of us,” Reid said on Sunday.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – The top four finishers from Saturday’s Grade 3, $250,000 Withers Stakes likely all will be pointed to another graded stakes race offering qualifying points to the May 4 Kentucky Derby, their connections said Sunday morning.

In the Withers, Tax squeezed through on the rail under Junior Alvarado to prevail by a head over Not That Brady, with Our Braintrust another neck back in third. It was 4 3/4 lengths farther back to Sir Winston in fourth.

ARCADIA, Calif. – The 20-cent Rainbow pick six paid $296.30 to 18,764 ticketholders at Santa Anita on Saturday, a day with a mandatory payout and a pool in excess of $6.7 million.

The bet began with a carryover of $1,592,209 from Friday. Bettors added $5,198,742. Favorites won three of the six races.

The sequence covered the fifth through 10th races on a 10-race program.

The winners were Omaha Beach ($3.40), Mucho Gusto ($3.20), Minstersdon’tlie ($12.80), My Mandate ($5), Battle of Midway ($6.80), and Isee It in Hiseyes ($7).

A half-dozen 3-year-olds either likely or possible for the Feb. 16 Risen Star Stakes had timed workouts Saturday at Fair Grounds.

War of Will topped the list of workers, going an easy half-mile in 51 seconds in his first breeze since a sharp win Jan. 19 in the Lecomte Stakes.

“Started a little slow,” assistant trainer David Carroll said in a text message. “Finished up beautifully and galloped out strong. Very smooth.”

Jockey Colby Hernandez rode his 2,000th winner Friday night at Fair Grounds. Hernandez put Crocodile Jacques on the lead in race 3 and never looked back, hitting the milestone with a 2 1/2-length win.

Hernandez, 30, began riding sanctioned races in 2006 and required 11,936 mounts to reach 2,000 winners. Born to a racing family in Opelousas, La., Hernandez has done nearly all his work in his home state and has been the leading rider at Evangeline Downs four times and at Delta Downs once.

Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen had a number of promising 3-year-olds in action last month between stakes at Oaklawn and Sunland Park.

Long Range Toddy finished second by a neck in the $150,000 Smarty Jones, a mile race that ended at the sixteenth pole at Oaklawn. The multiple stakes winner owned by Willis Horton Racing is now being pointed to that track’s Grade 3, $500,000 Southwest at 1 1/16 miles on Feb. 18.