Unraced since July 3, when he was narrowly beaten in the Suburban Stakes, 2021 Dubai World Cup winner Mystic Guide hit another milestone toward his return to racing when he had his first post-layoff timed workout Sunday at Fair Grounds.

This was merely a three-furlong drill clocked in 37.80 seconds, but the work left a positive impression on Michael Stidham, who trains the Godolphin homebred.

“Beautiful. He floated over the track. He looked great, did it the right way, and we’re happy to get him back going,” Stidham said.

Early in 2021, Brad Cox was scouting Concert Tour, watching him train and race and wondering how his own promising 3-year-olds stacked up against the Bob Baffert-trained colt. In the Arkansas Derby, Cox-trained Caddo River finished second, a head in front of Concert Tour.

Fast forward to fall and Cox’s perspective has radically changed: He now trains Concert Tour, and after the colt had his first work at Fair Grounds, going a half-mile in 49.80 seconds Sunday morning, Cox is scouting condition books, looking for a race.

“He’s getting very close,” Cox said.

Tom Amoss on Sunday confirmed the retirement of Grade 1-winning Louisiana-bred sprinter No Parole.

No Parole on Saturday finished last of 10 in the Louisiana Champions Day Sprint at Fair Grounds, that following a start Oct. 30 at Delta Downs in which he was eased.

The Delta race was No Parole’s first since he finished last on April 17 in the Count Fleet at Oaklawn Park, and No Parole, a 4-year-old Violence colt owned by Maggi Moss and Greg Tramontin, clearly had lost the ability that won him the Grade 1 Woody Stephens in June 2020.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – The coupled entry of Life Is Great and Hagler give owner Esteban Vargas a strong one-two punch in Thursday’s allowance/optional claiming feature for 2-year-olds, scheduled for seven furlongs at Aqueduct.

Life Is Great, a son of Tapiture trained by Bob Klesaris, is coming off a 6 3/4-length maiden win on Nov. 20, a race in which he ran seven furlongs in 1:24.64 and earned an 81 Beyer Speed Figure.

CYPRESS, Calif. – Until the final furlong of Saturday’s Grade 2 Los Alamitos Futurity, top California jockey Flavien Prat and trainer Bob Baffert appeared on their way to a four-win afternoon.

Prat was aboard the Baffert-trained 1-2 favorite Messier, who led briefly in the stretch of the $300,000 Los Alamitos Futurity at 1 1/16 miles. Slow Down Andy led in early stretch, and lost his advantage to Messier only to retake the lead en route to a one-length win.

Rombauer is working toward a comeback in early 2022 after a successful 3-year-old season that included a win in the Preakness Stakes at Pimlico in May and a third in the Belmont Stakes in June.

Owned by John and Diane Fradkin, Rombauer rejoined trainer Michael McCarthy’s stable earlier this fall. Saturday at Santa Anita, Rombauer worked a half-mile in 49.60 seconds, his third workout since resuming training.

McCarthy said Rombauer’s race plans will be not determined until the colt has a few workouts at five furlongs.

Country Grammer, unraced since a win in the Grade 1 Hollywood Gold Cup at Santa Anita in May, has rejoined trainer Bob Baffert’s stable for a 2022 campaign.

Saturday at Santa Anita, Country Grammer worked a half-mile in 50.40 seconds, the colt’s first major exercise of his comeback.

A 4-year-old, Country Grammer was transferred from Baffert to Todd Pletcher in New York last June in the weeks after the Baffert-trained Medina Spirit tested positive for the banned raceday medication betamethasone in the Kentucky Derby.

Still basking in the glow of reaching a huge milestone, Gerald Bennett got started on his next target by simultaneously climbing to his familiar position atop the local trainer standings at Tampa Bay Downs last week.

Bennett, the leading trainer each of the last six years at Tampa in Oldsmar, Fla., saddled two winners last Wednesday to become just the 14th trainer in North American racing history to win 4,000 races. Since then, he has been overwhelmed by congratulatory calls, texts, shout-outs, handshakes, and backslaps.

CYPRESS, Calif. - Los Alamitos stewards Luis Jauregui, Kim Sawyer, and Richard Williams used drone technology in their decision to disqualify race winner Jamming Eddy from first to fifth in Sunday’s fourth race.

After a brief inquiry, Jamming Eddy was disqualified for crowding Barristan The Bold and Fratelli on the turn of a maiden race for $35,000 to $40,000 claimers at 5 1/2 furlongs. A drone camera used for coverage on TVG showed the incident more clearly than the head-on and conventional camera angles stewards have used for decades.

CYPRESS, Calif. - Sometime in the coming weeks, the broodmare Edwina E will be sent from Paul and Zillah Reddam’s Ocean Breeze Ranch in Bonsall, Calif., to Kentucky.

The purpose will be an attempt to repeat a developing story.

Edwina E will be bred to Nyquist in early 2022, Paul Reddam said. Edwina E’s current 2-year-old, the Nyquist colt Slow Down Andy, won his graded stakes debut in Saturday’s Grade 2 Los Alamitos Futurity.