Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid al-Maktoum, owner of some of the top Thoroughbreds in recent memory through his Shadwell Stables, died Wednesday at age 75. Sheikh Hamdan was a force in the sport for decades, campaigning the great Nashwan and well-traveled champions such as Dayjur and Invasor.

WHO’S HOT

Eight new names are among the separately listed interests in the fifth and final pool of the 2021 Kentucky Derby Future Wager, which opens Friday at noon Eastern for the customary three-day run.

Essential Quality is listed as the 3-1 morning-line favorite in Pool 5, followed closely by Greatest Honour (4-1), Concert Tour (9-2), and Hot Rod Charlie (6-1). The mutuel field, the 24th or “all others” option, is listed at 20-1 after closing as the favorite in the first three pools.

Golden Gate Fields in Albany, Calif., has filed a lawsuit against a group whose members on March 6 scaled fencing at the track and delayed racing for six hours as a protest action, according to Bay Area news organizations.

DeShawn Parker has been selected by his fellow riding peers as the winner of the 2021 George Woolf Memorial Jockey Award, it was announced Thursday morning by Santa Anita, which has presented the award annually since 1950.

WHO’S HOT

Concert Tour, the co-fifth choice last week for the May 1 Kentucky Derby on the line of Daily Racing Form’s Marty McGee, had his price nearly halved, from 15-1 to 8-1, after his runaway victory in the Rebel Stakes last Saturday at Oaklawn. The lone newcomer to this week’s list is Rebel runner-up Hozier, who becomes the fifth Bob Baffert trainee in the top 20, joining stablemates Concert Tour, race favorite Life Is Good, Medina Spirit, and Spielberg. He is a 30-1 on McGee’s line.

Joel Rosario is a man in demand.

Last Saturday, Rosario was at Oaklawn Park, after being at Santa Anita the previous Saturday, after being at Oaklawn the Saturday prior. He’ll head to Fair Grounds this Saturday before going to Dubai the final Saturday of the month, then return to the United States, where he’ll be at either Keeneland or Santa Anita the first Saturday in April. It’s a dizzying schedule, but that’s the demand placed on a top jockey this time of year, as the Kentucky Derby draws closer.

The federal judge presiding over the wide-ranging indictment of racing-connected individuals that was unsealed in March of last year has approved a request by the defendants to push back a deadline in the case, according to court documents.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – If 31 graded stakes victories, including 12 in Grade 1 races, qualify as a down year, well, so be it. Chad Brown is moving on.

“It’s fine,” said Brown, who, despite leading all North American trainers in both Grade 1 and overall graded wins in 2020, was not among the Eclipse Award finalists for outstanding trainer after earning the award each of the four prior years (2016-19).

WHO’S HOT

The dazzling victory by Life Is Good in the San Felipe caused Marty McGee, who authors the Derby Watch top 20 betting line for the Kentucky Derby, to make Life Is Good the new favorite, down to 5-2 after being the 6-1 third choice last week. There are three newcomers to this week’s list – Crowded Trade, Helium, and Weyburn – and a returnee in Prevalence. McGee has Prevalence at 30-1, with the other three at 50-1.