ARCADIA, Calif. – Only five entered the Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby on Saturday, the smallest Santa Anita Derby field since Brother Derek wired a five-runner field in 2006. That was before the Kentucky Derby points scheme was introduced. This year, Derby points guidelines erode the relevance of the Santa Anita Derby.

ARCADIA, Calif. – Pick six carryovers are back in style at Santa Anita. For a second straight Friday, the track begins a race week with a carryover to spice things up. Bettors are expected to wager more than $500,000 into the Friday pick six, chasing $100,819 already in the pool.

The $2 pick six on races 5-10 includes three dirt sprints, two turf routes, and a hillside turf sprint with only one speed horse – Lovely Idaho in race 8. Navigating the pick six is never easy, though some races are less difficult than others. It starts with a dubious program favorite.

ELMONT, N.Y. – On the walls of his office and in areas throughout his Belmont Park barn are photographs of some of the biggest victories in the career of trainer Rick Dutrow. There are Big Brown’s tour-de-force triumphs in the 2008 Kentucky Derby and Preakness. There are winner’s circle photos of Kip Deville winning the 2007 Breeders’ Cup Mile and Benny the Bull the 2008 Dubai Golden Shaheen.

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Payne is a 10-year-old going on 4.

He is unbeaten this year in four starts. He is coming off a career-high Beyer Speed Figure of 101. And he was claimed out of that race for $50,000 – the second time he’s been haltered this year after being taken for $20,000 in February.

For all of those reasons, Payne figures to be a strong favorite Friday when he starts in the second race at Oaklawn Park. He’s part of a field of seven for the $20,000 starter allowance for 4-year-olds and up over six furlongs.

Simply Stated picks up a tad more real estate for Friday’s seventh race at Gulfstream Park, and the added ground should serve her cause, according to trainer Michael Trombetta.

The seventh race is a 5 1/2-furlong sprint for fillies and mares on Tapeta. The conditioned allowance carries a $62,500 claiming option. The race drew a competitive group of six, including Ms. Tart, a winner at this distance last out at Gulfstream, and Time Passage, who leads the field in earnings with a bankroll of $361,502.

WHO’S HOT

Tappan Street and Sandman won Grade 1 races March 29; their Derby Watch odds subsequently dropped. Tappan Street won the Florida Derby in just his third career start; Sandman took advantage of a blistering pace to win the Arkansas Derby. Tappan Street drops to 10-1, co-third choice. Sandman was lowered to 12-1 by Daily Racing Form linemaker David Aragona.

Captain Cook

Colt by Practical Joke – Pow Wow Wow, by Indian Charlie

Bred in Kentucky by Marylou Whitney Stables ($410,000 Keeneland November horses of racing age purchase by Steven Young)

The bloodlines of the vaunted Whitney program have rarely been available in the public marketplace. That changed last year, when John Hendrickson, widower of Marylou Whitney, died.