Tapwrit, winner  of the Tampa Bay Derby in his last start, will head to Keeneland for the Grade 2 Blue Grass Stakes on April 8 for his final start before the May 6 Kentucky Derby, Aron Wellman, who runs the Eclipse Thoroughbred partnership, said Monday.

Eclipse is part of an ownership group in Tapwrit that includes Bridlewood Farm and Robert LaPenta.

“He’s telling us with the way he’s training that he deserves another opportunity to race before the big dance,” Wellman said.

Jose Ortiz will have the mount in the Blue Grass, Wellman said.

It is increasingly doubtful that a Japanese-based runner will compete in this year’s Kentucky Derby on May 6. Epicharis, the runner-up in the United Arab Emirates Derby on Saturday, has been removed from consideration by his connections, and the only other two prospects who could be invited by Churchill Downs are unlikely to participate, according to the Japan Racing Association.

ARCADIA, Calif. – It’s hard to believe after his win in the Dubai World Cup on Saturday, but there are two horses in the world who once beat Arrogate.

Last April, Arrogate finished a troubled third in a six-furlong maiden race for 3-year-olds at Los Alamitos, behind Westbrook and Accelerate, who are still active in Southern California. Arrogate has not lost since, compiling a seven-race winning streak that has made him the richest North American-based Thoroughbred in history, with earnings of $17,084,600.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Bert Klein, a prominent owner and breeder who raced horses in partnership with his late wife, Elaine, and son, Richard, died Friday morning following an illness. He was 86.

Klein, who was the retired president of a local bank, got serious about racing horses in the1990s. The family’s homebred filly, Pinch Hit, won the second race Thursday under their familiar lime-green silks at Oaklawn Park, less than 24 hours before Bert died at a local health-care facility surrounded by family.

You told me when we were friends (age 9) that you had Man O Wars blood in you  . . . and I believed you bc u ran really fast and could whinny like a horse. 
– Note from a childhood friend

The Grade 3 Los Alamitos Derby on July 15 will be worth $200,000 and is the richest of three stakes at the eight-day Los Alamitos summer meeting July 6-16, the track announced Thursday.

The track is running a July meeting for the first time since 2015. Last year, Los Alamitos hosted Thoroughbred meetings in April, September, and December. This year, there are also meetings scheduled for September and December.

The Los Alamitos Derby was run in September last year for $200,000. The race was worth $350,000 when run in July 2015.

Todd Pletcher already has won the Southwest Stakes, Rebel Stakes, and Tampa Bay Derby in the past 30 days; has horses running in the United Arab Emirates Derby, Spiral Stakes, and Sunland Derby this weekend; and is preparing runners for the Florida Derby, Louisiana Derby, Santa Anita Derby, Wood Memorial, Blue Grass, and Arkansas Derby over the next few weeks. This logistical challenge has reaped great rewards for his clients while highlighting the trust Pletcher has in personnel who carry out his wishes in his absence.

WHO’S HOT

Thomas Voss, the late trainer who led the U.S. in steeplechase wins five times, and Good Night Shirt, a two-time steeplechase champion, have been elected as steeplechase representatives to the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame, the organization announced Wednesday.