OZONE PARK, N.Y. - O Besos nearly lost the Cigar Mile before he passed through the entry box.

Hoosier Philly, unbeaten in three starts and a smooth winner of the Golden Rod Stakes on Nov. 26 at Churchill, is getting a freshening at Woodford Farm in Ocala, Fla., before joining Tom Amoss’s string at Fair Grounds in late December.

A five-length winner in the Golden Rod after an even easier score in the Rags to Riches Stakes, Hoosier Philly, if all goes well, could make her 2023 debut in the Feb. 18 Rachel Alexandra Stakes at Fair Grounds.

Proxy scored his first Grade 1 win in the Clark Stakes on Nov. 25 at Churchill Downs and will have even more important targets early in 2023.

Michael Stidham, who trains Proxy for his breeder, Godolphin, said Proxy had come out of the Clark in good shape and could next race Jan. 28 at Gulfstream in the Pegasus World Cup.

“The obvious spot is the Pegasus,” Stidham said. “It’s good timing at the end of January, and if he were to run well it’s good timing to the Dubai World Cup.”

Extra Anejo, among the most exciting 2-year-old maiden winners of 2022, is expected to soon have his first workout since shipping into Fair Grounds from Kentucky in mid-November and could start Dec. 26 in the Gun Runner Stakes at Fair Grounds.

Steve Asmussen, who trains Extra Anejo for Ron Winchell’s Winchell Thoroughbreds, on Tuesday termed the 1 1/16-mile Gun Runner the “most likely” spot for Extra Anejo’s second race.

Total handle on the mixed meet at Horseshoe Indianapolis in Shelbyville, Ind., has been estimated by track management at a record $235 million, the fourth straight year that handle has risen.

Track officials said that the estimated $235 million total for the 123-day meet would be approximately 5 percent higher than total handle last year, when the track ran 27 fewer races. Per race, the estimated handle is expected to jump 9 percent compared to last year, the officials said.

Churchill Downs has placed a barn on its backstretch under quarantine after a horse began displaying potential symptoms of equine herpesvirus on Tuesday morning, according to the track’s equine medical director.

The horse was shipped to a veterinary clinic after showing signs of “ataxia and neurological distress,” according to Dr. Will Farmer, who oversees equine health and welfare at Churchill’s tracks. Although Farmer said that tests on the horse have not yet been completed, those are two of the primary symptoms of equine herpesvirus, a highly contagious disease.

Jockey Vicente Del-Cid, who ranks as the second-leading rider in wins in North America, will likely miss the remainder of the year due to facial fractures sustained in a spill Saturday night at Delta Downs in Vinton, La.  

Agent Louis Coco said Del-Cid is expected to be sidelined for approximately four to six weeks. The rider was to meet with doctors Tuesday about surgery to address his injuries. Del-Cid sustained a broken bone around one of his eyes as well as a broken nose when his mount, Luck of the Stars, fell and he was thrown. 

ARCADIA, Calif. – A deep jockey colony this winter at Santa Anita is getting deeper.

Kazushi Kimura, runaway leading rider at Woodbine the past two seasons after winning the Eclipse Award as outstanding apprentice in 2019, will relocate to California and ride the Santa Anita meet that begins Dec. 26.

Churchill Downs Inc. has reached an agreement to provide access to its account-wagering operation to DraftKings, an additional step in the company’s new strategy of partnering with sports-betting companies to expand the scope of its mobile pari-mutuel operations.

Under the multi-year agreement, Churchill and DraftKings will debut a service called “DK Horse” that will serve as an entryway on DraftKings’s mobile application to Churchill’s twinspires.com account-wagering operation. Churchill and DraftKings said in a release that the service will launch in “the coming months.”

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Irad Ortiz Jr.’s attempt at setting North America’s single-year record for stakes wins stalled last week when he went 0 for 10 in stakes conducted at Aqueduct. Ortiz entered the Thanksgiving weekend stakes-fest with 76 stakes victories, tied with Garrett Gomez, who set the record in 2007.

Ortiz had a couple of second-place finishes, including aboard Highest Honors in Saturday’s Grade 2 Red Smith.