All the latest happenings on the Road to the Kentucky Derby, including what Kentucky Derby preps the top contenders are pointing for.
- Grade 2 Fountain of Youth Stakes champ Code of Honor exited his victory in good shape and is likely to stay at Gulfstream Park for the Grade 1 Florida Derby on March 30, with the Grade 2 Wood Memorial Stakes at Aqueduct one week later also an option.
- The Florida Derby is also the preferred final Grade 1 Kentucky Derby prep for Fountain of Youth runner-up Bourbon War and show finisher, Vekoma.
- Hidden Scroll, fourth as the beaten favorite in the Fountain of Youth after setting a wicked pace, remains under consideration for the Florida Derby, as well as the Wood Memorial and Grade 2 Blue Grass at Keeneland on April 6.
- Fountain of Youth fifth-place runner Global Campaign grabbed a quarter in the race and is off the Kentucky Derby trail while that heals.
- Signalman, who lost a shoe during his seventh-place run in the Fountain of Youth and didn’t scope cleanly after the race, will be pointed to the Blue Grass Stakes.
- Probable starters for the Grade 2 Tampa Bay Derby on March 9 at Tampa Bay Downs are Admire, Current, Dream Maker, Lord Dragon, Sir Winston, Tacitus, The Right Path, Well Defined, Win Win Win and Zenden.
- Multiple Canadian stakes victor Avie’s Flatter will bypass a planned run in the Tampa Bay Derby and be pointed to another spot.
- Juvenile Champion Game Winner is expected to face stablemate Improbable, Gunmetal Gray, Extra Hope, Easy Shot and, possibly, Nolo Contesto in Santa Anita’s Grade 2 San Felipe Stakes.
- Trainer Richard Mandella will skip the San Felipe with recent Santa Anita maiden winner Omaha Beach and instead run him in Oaklawn Park’s Grade 2 Rebel Stakes a week later if a quarter crack heals in time for that race.
- Probable starters for the March 9 Grade 3 Gotham Stakes at Aqueduct include Call Paul, Haikal, Instagrand, Knicks Go, Mind Control, Much Better, Not That Brady, Overdeliver and Tikhvin Flew.
- Federal Case, who had been under consideration for the Gotham Stakes, will run next in Gulfstream Park’s Grade 3 Hutcheson Stakes on March 23.
- Horses considered probable for Turfway Park’s Grade 3 Jeff Ruby Steaks on March 9 are Baytown Jimbo, Counter Offer, Curlin Grey, Dabo, Dynamic Racer, Five Star General, Moonster, Skywire, Somelikeithotbrown, Speed App and Twelfofneverland.
- Country House, runner-up in the Grade 2 Risen Star Stakes, will return to Fair Grounds for the Grade 2 Louisiana Derby on March 23.
- Derma Louvre, the points leader among Triple Crown nominees in the Japanese prep races, is targeting the May 4 Kentucky Derby and expected to ship to Churchill Downs if all goes in his final prep in the March 30 Group 2 UAE Derby at Meydan Racecourse in Dubai.
- Conditioner Bob Baffert will target Santa Anita’s Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby with Roadster, who captured his seasonal debut there in a March 1 allowance optional claiming event.
- Ken McPeek trainee Lemniscate, who took a Gulfstream Park maiden special weight turf contest on March 3, is a candidate for Oaklawn Park’s Grade 1 Arkansas Derby on April 13.
- Gray Attempt, winner of Oaklawn Park’s Smarty Jones Stakes in January, will miss the Rebel Stakes due to a minor setback, but his connections remain hopeful that the colt can make the Arkansas Derby.
- Conditioner Bill Mott said that Mucho, who returned from a lengthy layoff to win a six-furlong allowance on March 1 at Gulfstream, will remain around one turn for now and make his next start in the Grade 3 Bay Shore Stakes at Aqueduct on the Wood Memorial undercard.
- Oaklawn Park’s Grade 3 Southwest Stakes hero Grade Super Steed is off the Kentucky Derby trail due to bone bruising in a front leg and will need 60 to 90 days of recovery.
- Courtyard, who scored in a Fair Grounds allowance optional claiming contest on March 2, exited the race with a minor issue and should return in the summer for trainer Tom Amoss.