So go ahead and toss Premier Pegasus on the pile, this week’s sad tale, suffering as he did a minor injury at a major moment.

For those keeping score at home, it has been 22 years since the winner of the Santa Anita Derby went on to win the Kentucky Derby as well.

With the Kentucky Derby near, racing fans will scrutinize Saturday’s Wood Memorial Stakes, Santa Anita Derby, and Illinois Derby, plus other major prep races next week, in an effort to divine what will happen on the first Saturday in May.

The Kentucky Derby Future Wager parimutuel pools are behind us, but with less than a month until the first Saturday in May, there are still bets to be made in the fixed-odds futures.

Jerry Hollendorfer does not need to win the million-dollar Santa Anita Derby on Saturday with longshot Indian Winter to be elected to the Hall of Fame. Of course, it wouldn’t hurt.

At this point, Hollendorfer’s credentials are pretty well established. After 32 years as a public trainer he has won 5,913 races, for purses that total $120,476,389. That was as of Wednesday morning. Add “and counting” to both numbers, since he is still very much in the thick of things with vigorous divisions in Northern and Southern California and a road game to die for.

It has been a wild and woolly fortnight in racing.

In New York the Racing and Wagering Board, emboldened by the public’s revulsion at the Ernie Paragallo animal cruelty scandal and an appellate court decision denying Paragallo’s appeal, barred the trainer for life from racing in the state.

From all the indignant commentary, not to mention YouTube hits, this past week, you would think the biggest change in this year’s Preakness Stakes is that Pimlico officials have created a half-human, half-horse mascot named Kegasus to be the race’s official infield mascot.

The most heartening element of the Hall of Fame ballot soon to be mailed to the 183 journalists, historians, and dignitaries on the voting roll is the absence of the boys. They’ve had their turn.

The Guineas season goes into high gear this week with a pair of French preps at Maisons-Laffitte, but it is the anticipated return of European juvenile champion Frankel in the Greenham Stakes on April 16 that will attract the most attention.

There are a lot of things Bill Mott can do if you ask him to. He can strap on his blacksmith leathers and trim a tender hoof. He can lace up the rollerblades and go fetch the mail. And if confronted by a thirsty pilgrim from some distant land, like California, he will gladly buy him an ice cold beer.