A quick long-distance word about some personal faves making recent or upcoming appearances on the race track:

Duchess of Rokeby finished a disappointing (for me, anyway) 5th on Friday; I was told today that she bled during the race and will be heading to the farm for the winter, with a return to the races next year.

Her stablemate, Irish Blast, fared better in his début Saturday at Aqueduct, winning by seven. He’s one of the colts I met during my late-night visit to a Middleburg farm in October, and it was great to hear today that he’d won at first asking. A third Jerkens horse, Lord Langfuhr, is entered on Sunday.

Also in on Sunday is Armonk, a lovely grey filly in the barn of Kiaran McLaughlin; she’s made several promising starts, including in stakes at Belmont in the fall, without yet having crossed the wire first. She and her stablemate Liza Lu are prohibitive co-favorites at ½ in the 6th race.

Taking on Lord Langfuhr in the Alex M. Robb on Sunday is Naughty New Yorker, the Pat Kelly-trained horse who most recently finished third behind Daaher and Midnight Lute in the Cigar Mile at the end of November. Hard to believe that Naughty New Yorker is only five; he seems to have been racing forever. Given that he’s a Pat Kelly trainee, here’s hoping that he sticks around nearly as long as his stablemate Evening Attire–though Naughty New Yorker, a horse, has state-bred incentives that his gelded stablemate lacks.

Finally, next Wednesday sees the return of Scrappy T at Laurel, after a long, long absence. I last saw him race on the Breeders’ Cup undercard at Belmont in 2005, a few months after his infamous run-in with Afleet Alex in the Preakness. The Preakness marked my biggest single day score, as I had the exacta and win/place money on both horses. It was also the day of my birthday party, at a great local bar in Brooklyn. I’d liked Scrappy T even earlier that spring, and I was glad to see recorded works for him showing up in my mailbox a month ago. Good luck to him in his return.

I’ll post my top ten favorite New York racing moments on New Year’s Eve.