WHO’S HOT

Both Kiaran McLaughlin and Todd Pletcher came up under D. Wayne Lukas, the trainer who has the most starters in the history of the Kentucky Derby. But the approaches McLaughlin and Pletcher have taken toward the Derby have differed sharply.

Pletcher is now up to second, behind only Lukas, in overall number of Derby starters, 47-40. McLaughlin has had just five starters.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – A field of 10 older horses has been entered to run Saturday at Gulfstream Park in the $500,000 Donn Handicap, the first Grade 1 dirt race for older horses this year in North America.

Lea figures as a solid favorite to defend his title in the 60th running of the 1 1/8-mile Donn, which anchors a 13-race, six-stakes program. The 6-year-old Lea tuned up for the Donn by winning the Jan. 10 Hal’s Hope in impressive fashion when returning from an 11-month layoff.

Maryland Jockey Club officials have notified trainers Hector Garcia and Juan C. Vazquez that they no longer will be able to race at Laurel Park or Pimlico and have given them two weeks to remove their horses from the Pimlico backstretch.

The ban comes in response to four recent medication positives that Garcia has had. Three of the offenses were for the anabolic steroid stanozolol, and the other was for the tranquilizer xylazine. Garcia has been suspended for 13 months, beginning Thursday, for the infractions.

Federal legislators have introduced two bills that would open up states to gambling on sports by amending a federal law that prohibits the activity in most states, according to the American Horse Council.

A two-alarm fire Wednesday morning at the Thoroughbred Center, a training facility owned by Keeneland near Lexington, Ky., did not affect barns or injure horses. The cause of the fire has yet to be determined.

The fire, first reported shortly after 8 a.m. Eastern, began near the tack shop of the training center, which is located on Paris Pike just outside of Lexington. Employees in the building emerged safely, though one firefighter and one woman were treated for smoke inhalation.

Betting by telephone has officially come to Arizona.

Months after legislation allowing advanced-deposit wagering was signed into law, the logistics have been worked out, and on Friday, the Arizona Department of Racing authorized Turf Paradise to start.

The legislation allows wagering on horse racing and dog racing by phone. Arizona joins 37 other states that allow ADW accounts. For the time being, only Pima County, which includes Tucson and southwestern Arizona, is not included since some legal hurdles remain.

American Pharoah, the Eclipse Award winner for top 2-year-old male, is the top individually listed wagering interest behind the heavily favored mutuel field in Pool 2 of the 2015 Kentucky Derby Future Wager, which opens Friday at noon Eastern for a three-day run.

The field, the 24th or “all others” entry, closed as the 3-5 favorite in Pool 1, followed by Dortmund at 9-1 and American Pharoah at 12-1. Combined handle for that pool was $232,204, the fourth-lowest since Churchill Downs first offered pari-mutuel futures in 1999.

Last weekend’s races at Laurel Park produced two possible runners for the Grade 3, $250,000 General George Handicap on Presidents Day, Feb. 16.

Smash and Grab won a fourth-level optional-claiming race at seven furlongs by 5 1/2 lengths Saturday, earning a Beyer Speed Figure of 96. Smash and Grab has won 4 of his last 6 starts for trainer Damon Dilodovico.

Lucy’s Bob Boy improved his record at Charles Town to 22 for 29 last Thursday when he won a no-conditions allowance race for West Virginia-breds by 3 3/4 lengths.

Now 6, Lucy’s Bob Boy is 5 for 6 at Charles Town since Aug. 1, with his lone loss during that time coming by a half-length to Russell Road in the $450,000 West Virginia Breeders’ Classic.