Perhaps this weekend will go better for star jockey Julien Leparoux than last weekend. Leparoux, who is based at Gulfstream Park this winter, arrived in Southern California last Saturday to discover the Santa Anita program, and his four scheduled mounts in stakes, were rained out due to a synthetic track that failed to drain sufficiently.

In the latest salvo in the legal battle between Fifth Third Bank and prominent racehorse owner Ahmed Zayat, the bank has alleged Zayat diverted money from an insurance payout it should have received. Zayat denies that Fifth Third was entitled to receive proceeds from the insurance claim, a $2.75 million mortality claim on two-time Grade 1 winner Thorn Song that was paid out on Oct. 19, 2009.

Eighteen-year-old Alex Gonzalez took a giant leap of faith when he left his home in Florida in December to come to Northern California. The move is beginning to pay dividends for the apprentice jockey, who won three consecutive races last Friday at Golden Gate Fields and is currently fifth in the jockey standings.

Trainer Michael Pino has been looking forward to the opportunity to put Shabaab on the turf, and that opportunity finally arrives on Wednesday at Gulfstream Park.

Santa Anita canceled last Saturday's card due to rain and insufficient drainage of the main track, then fixed the surface for an eight-race card Sunday. With another storm expected to arrive Tuesday, the week begins with uncertainty. The same might be said for Mythical Power in the race 7 feature.

With another major winter storm approaching the Northeast both Aqueduct and Laurel Park canceled their live racing cards for Wednesday. Laurel also canceled Thursday's card.

Michael Burns, Woodbine's longtime track photographer who collected both Eclipse and Sovereign award honors for his work, died in an Ontario hospital Monday evening at age 84 after a battle with cancer.