STICKNEY, Ill. – When it rained before the Hawthorne card on Nov. 21, forcing that day’s grass races onto a wet main track, one had to think the Hawthorne turf course would be on winter holiday until sometime in April. Think again.

Turf racing – or, at least, the prospect of it – has returned to Hawthorne this week despite the fact the track sits on the edge of Chicago, and that this is December. Grass races are carded both Tuesday and Wednesday this week, and track officials hope to use the course through this weekend, if not longer.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – The 2015-16 Championship meet is only two days old, but the trainer and jockey standings already have a familiar look about them, with trainer Todd Pletcher and jockey Javier Castellano quickly assuming command.

Pletcher opened the new meet by winning the early daily double on Saturday with the 2-year-olds Stradivari and Zulu, who each won a maiden race. Sunday, the Red Oak Stable homebred juvenile filly Daring Bride turned in one-sided victory for Pletcher in her debut.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – It may not be the most wonderful time of year for New York racing, but here’s hoping this winter isn’t as bad as the previous one.

In a word, last winter at Aqueduct was brutal.

There were 17 weather-related cancellations and 15 equine fatalities during the four months (Dec. 3 through March 28) of racing over the inner track. The fatalities led to new safety initiatives being introduced, though one of them, a ban on running horses back within 14 days, was lifted after only a short time. There was only one fatality over the last two months of the meet.

OLDSMAR, Fla. - Hall of Fame trainer LeRoy Jolley won with the first horse he ever ran at Tampa Bay Downs last Friday, when Marrakech ($7.20) scored by three-quarters of a length in a $30,000 maiden-claiming race for 2-year-olds going 1 1/16 miles on turf.

Marrakech was making his fifth start and was dropping sharply in class after racing exclusively on the New York Racing Association circuit. The Eskendereya colt is owned by the Hot Scot Racing Stables of Bev Hendry and Christine Hosier and was ridden by Jose Ferrer.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – It may not be as thrilling as winning his first Saratoga riding title, which he did earlier this summer, but jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. won his first Aqueduct fall meet riding crown with 30 winners at the 26-day meet, which ended Sunday.

Ortiz’s 30 winners, which included a pair of four-win afternoons, were five more than brother Jose, who won three races on Sunday’s card. Javier Castellano and Kendrick Carmouche tied for third with 20 wins apiece.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Though most juveniles who raced on this circuit this year went south to prepare for their 3-year-old season, there are at least two intriguing prospects who stayed behind.

Flexibility, second to Mohaymen in both the Nashua and Remsen during Aqueduct’s fall meet, and Matt King Coal, a sharp maiden winner at Belmont, head the list of soon-to-be 3-year-olds who may use the New York road to see if they are worthy Triple Crown candidates.

CYPRESS, Calif. – When Pacific Heat began her career with a convincing win in a maiden race on dirt here in September, trainer Peter Eurton considered her breeding and thought he had a prospect for graded stakes on turf in 2016.

“I thought she’d have to do her thing on grass,” he said last weekend.

Pacific Heat seems very comfortable racing on dirt tracks. After two wins in as many starts, Pacific Heat is set to run in Saturday’s $300,000 Starlet Stakes at Los Alamitos, a Grade 1 at 1 1/16 miles on dirt for 2-year-old fillies.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – After braving the harshest of harsh winters here in 2015, El Kabeir will be heading west for winter 2016 – at least, for part of it.

El Kabeir, who won the Grade 3 Jerome and Grade 3 Gotham over Aqueduct’s inner track last winter, was scheduled to ship Wednesday to Southern California, where he will be pointed to the Grade 1, $300,000 Malibu Stakes at Santa Anita on Dec. 26. Depending how he fares, his stay in California could be extended to include other graded opportunities.

Golden Gate Fields will offer the same 12 stakes it has for the past two years for its 96-day winter-spring meet, which opens Dec. 26. The stakes schedule is worth just more than $1 million.

Last year, Golden Gate shifted a pair of $100,000 turf races for California-breds, the Campanile and the Silky Sullivan, to the same weekend as the Grade 3 San Francisco Mile to create a weekend turf festival.

How thick was the fog Friday night at Turfway? Mike Battaglia, who began calling races there more than 40 years ago, said it was “the worst I can ever recall.”

Equibase’s Steve Peery, who has called charts for 18 years, agreed.

“Usually, there are spots where you can make out who is who,” said Peery. “But this was the thickest I’ve ever seen. It was surreal.”