A quartet of 3-year-olds who have made all their previous starts for trainer Bob Baffert are nominated to the Grade 3, $300,000 Gotham Stakes on March 4 at Aqueduct under the name of different trainers. Three of the horses are now listed as being trained by Tim Yakteen, one with Brittany Russell. Arabian Lion and Hejazi, both owned by Amr Zedan, and Carmel Road, owned by a partnership headed by SF Racing, are all nominated to the Gotham, a one-turn-mile race, with Yakteen listed as trainer. Fort Warren, also owned by SF Racing, et al., is listed as being trained by Russell. The Gotham awards its top five finishers qualifying points (50-20-15-10-5) toward the May 6 Kentucky Derby. It is unclear how seriously any of the four are being considered for the Gotham. :: Take your handicapping to the next level and play with FREE DRF Past Performances - Formulator or Classic.  Owing to the medication positive detected in Medina Spirit following his victory in the 2021 Kentucky Derby, Baffert is suspended by Churchill Downs from participating in the Kentucky Derby through this year’s running. Further, under the rules set forth in the Triple Crown nomination form, any horse in the care of a trainer suspended by Churchill Downs Inc. must be moved to a trainer not suspended by CDI by Feb. 28 in order to be eligible to earn qualifying points in designated races run in March and April leading up to the Derby. On Saturday, Oaklawn Park hosts the Rebel Stakes, also a 100 Derby points-scoring race. Baffert has five horses -- including Hejazi -- nominated to that race all in his name. Entries to the Rebel were to be taken Monday. If a horse is entered under another trainer's name it would be eligible to earn points, but any horse that would run under Baffert’s name would be ineligible to earn Derby points in the Rebel. However, if they are moved after that race, they could earn points moving forward. On Friday, a U.S. District Court judge denied Baffert’s motion to have his ban from Churchill Downs lifted. Last year, when Baffert was serving a 90-day suspension owing to the Medina Spirit positive, two horses previously trained by him -- Messier and Taiba -- ran in the Kentucky Derby for Yakteen, running 12th and 15th, respectively. Baffert currently has a bevy of top 3-year-olds in his barn who would be considered legitimate Kentucky Derby prospects. He has six of the top 20 in the latest Daily Racing Form Derby Watch including Hejazi, a son of Bernardini who is coming off a maiden win going 6 1/2 furlongs on Jan. 15 at Santa Anita. On Sunday, he worked five furlongs in 59.20 seconds in company with the Grade 2 stakes winner Laurel River. Carmel Road, a son of Quality Road, has one win from four starts, that being a two-turn-mile maiden score at Del Mar last August. He has not started since finishing second to Practical Move -- coincidentally trained by Yakteen --  in the Grade 2 Los Alamitos Futurity on Dec. 17. Arabian Lion won his career debut going six furlongs at Santa Anita last October. After running second in an seven-furlong allowance at Keeneland on Nov. 4 he finished last of five as the 2-5 favorite in the Los Alamitos Futurity and last of four in the Robert Lewis at Santa Anita on Feb. 4. Fort Warren, a son of Curlin, won his debut going 6 1/2 furlongs at Santa Anita on Oct. 30 before finishing third in the San Vicente on Jan. 29. :: Bet the races on DRF Bets! Sign up with code WINNING to get a $250 Deposit Match, $10 Free Bet, and FREE DRF Formulator.  Arabian Knight, considered Baffert’s top Kentucky Derby prospect, Cave Rock, a two-time Grade 1 winner who only recently returned to the work tab, National Treasure, Reincarnate, and Faustin are the other Baffert-trained runners listed on Derby Watch.   On March 4, Santa Anita runs the San Felipe, another race that awards qualifying points to the Kentucky Derby. Nominations for that race close Thursday. Baffert runners comprised 22 of the 27 3-year-olds that were nominated to the San Vicente and Robert Lewis, the previous two stakes in that division run at Santa Anita. Nominations for the Fountain of Youth Stakes at Gulfstream Park -- another 100 Derby-points scoring race -- on March 4 closed on Saturday. Baffert nominated Robert Lewis runner-up Hard to Figure, in his name to that race, according to Mike Lakow, vice president of racing operations for Gulfstream. If he remains in Baffert’s care after Feb. 28, Hard to Figure would be ineligible to run in the Kentucky Derby. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.