The 5-year-old horse Proxy displayed early ability, finishing second in a pair of 2021 Fair Grounds 3-year-old stakes, the Lecomte and the Risen Star, but even while racing competitively against good horses like Midnight Bourbon and Mandaloun, Proxy didn’t truly have his mind in the game.

Trainer Michael Stidham added blinkers to the colt’s race-day equipment to no great effect and Proxy finished fourth in the Louisiana Derby and Lexington Stakes two Aprils ago at Keeneland, his last start until February 2022.

Santa Anita will not race on Saturday because of a forecast for significant rain, but the Friday program will go forward, the track announced late Thursday morning.

This is the second time this month inclement weather has led to a cancellation. Racing was not held at Santa Anita on Jan. 1.

The forecast for Saturday calls for approximately an inch of rain in the Santa Anita area, according to accuweather.com.

Racing is scheduled to proceed on Sunday, but Monday’s card will be subject to an evaluation on Friday, track officials said.

Los Alamitos will not race on Saturday or Sunday evening in anticipation of wet weather in Southern California.

The track made the announcement after receiving approval from the California Horse Racing Board. The decision was finalized before entries for either card were taken.

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Queen Goddess, winner of the Grade 3 Robert Frankel Stakes at Santa Anita on Dec. 31 and two other stakes in her 10-race career, will start in the Grade 3 Pegasus World Cup Filly and Mare Turf Invitational at Gulfstream Park on Jan. 28, her richest race since October 2021.

Woodford Reserve, the bourbon brand sold by Brown-Forman, has reached an agreement with Churchill Downs Inc. to extend its presenting sponsorship of the Kentucky Derby through 2027, the companies announced on Wednesday.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – The updated list of invitees to the $3 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational on Jan. 28 was released Wednesday by the Gulfstream Park racing office with no changes made to the original group named a week earlier. The lineup is headed by Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile runner-up Cyberknife, Grade 1 Awesome Again winner Defunded, Grade 1 Clark Stakes hero Proxy, and the $2.3 million earner Art Collector.

Two Emmys is closing in on his fourth season of racing at Fair Grounds, with the Jan. 21 Colonel E.R. Bradley a likely comeback spot pending his final timed workout or two, trainer and principal owner Hugh Robertson said Tuesday.

Two Emmys has gone 3-3-1 from nine Fair Grounds grass starts, finishing second to Colonel Liam in the 2021 Muniz Memorial and winning the Muniz, Fair Grounds’ most important turf race, last March over Santin.

The last week of 2022 proved especially satisfying for the Jason Barkley stable at Fair Grounds.

On Dec. 26, Spooky Channel, now 8, returned from a 14-month layoff to win the $100,000 Buddy Diliberto Memorial Stakes. On Dec. 31, Barkley sent 2-year-old filly Forest Chimes into her career debut, a two-turn maiden-special-weight race she won by 7 1/2 lengths. Racing over a good, sealed dirt surface, Forest Chimes clocked 1:47.34 for 1 1/16 miles and earned a 79 Beyer Speed Figure.

Extra Anejo, the highly promising newly turned 3-year-old, is on his way to Fair Grounds from Kentucky after being cleared this week to resume training.

Late last year, Extra Anejo had successful surgery to remove a bone chip from a hind ankle. Monday, Extra Anejo had a PET (positron emission tomography) scan and after a full evaluation of the colt’s condition, noted veterinarian Dr. Larry Bramlage gave the go-ahead for Extra Anejo to go back into training with Steve Asmussen.

In a perfect world, Extra Anejo and Loggins would have been the two most exciting 3-year-old colts training at Fair Grounds at the start of 2023. In this world, neither colt is training at all right now, and every day that circumstance prevails, the chances of either making major races this spring diminishes.

Loggins hasn’t raced or even worked since he finished a tough second, beaten a neck by Forte, in the Oct. 8 Breeders’ Futurity. Forte went on to beat Cave Rock in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile and is all but certain to be named champion 2-year-old of 2022.