Ghostzapper, Horse of the Year in 2004, lost his chance to be represented as a sire in the Kentucky Derby several weeks ago when son Runaway Ghost was declared from the classic with an injury. But the Adena Springs stallion was still represented as the broodmare sire of unbeaten Derby favorite Justify – who delivered in a big way to key a stellar weekend for the stallion.

When juvenile racing heats up this summer and fall, all eyes will now be on two 2-year-olds who got big catalog updates from their siblings’ performances under the twin spires over the weekend. Egyptian Storm is a half-sister to Kentucky Derby winner Justify, while Cowboy Diplomacy is a full brother to Kentucky Oaks heroine Monomoy Girl.

Elliott Walden has a roadmap in mind when buying horses for WinStar Farm and its partners, and the success of Kentucky Derby winner Justify and third-place finisher Audible are the latest examples of trusting the process.

When Scat Daddy retired to stud in 2008, he exemplified four of the five characteristics most commercial breeders look for first in a prospective stallion. He had been precocious enough to win a Grade 1 at 2, showed two-turn ability by winning a Grade 1 at 3, he came from an excellent female family, and he was an outstanding physical specimen - a big, powerful, correct horse with lots of muscle and polish. The one negative was that his sire, Johannesburg, was an unfashionable horse who was not in any way considered a likely sire of sires.

Scat Daddy was a talented and tough racehorse who debuted with brilliancy and continued on to become a Grade 1 winner at both 2, when he took the Champagne Stakes, and at 3, when he rolled in the Florida Derby. He typically dug in when facing a challenge in the stretch.

No group of racehorses goes under a stronger microscope than the field for the Kentucky Derby. But even under the heaviest scrutiny, many things remain unknown about the entries until they cross the finish line.

One of the biggest variables that can only be forecasted at this point is the ability to handle the Derby’s 1 1/4-mile distance. It’s a distance no horse in the field has faced, and one that many in the field will never see again in competition.

One of the pleasant surprises of this year’s Kentucky Derby and Oaks trails has been the rapid ascension of Take Charge Indy, who is positioned to have starters in both races from his first crop.

Despite finishing outside the top 10 by first-crop average yearling sale price with his debut foals and being sold to stand in Korea before that group hit the track, Take Charge Indy sits atop the North American second-crop sire standings by winners, stakes winners, and earnings as the calendar rolls into Triple Crown season.

The American equine conquest of Europe that began with Sir Ivor’s victories in the 1968 2000 Guineas and Epsom Derby revolutionized the international breeding industry. The American Thoroughbred, after decades of crossing the tough, sound racemares required by American dirt tracks with more refined, European stallions had reached a pinnacle heretofore unseen that resulted in the 1970's onslaught of Secretariat, Ruffian, Seattle Slew, Affirmed, Alydar, and Spectacular Bid.

Spendthrift Farm in Lexington, Ky., will stand Grade 1 winner and Kentucky Derby hopeful Free Drop Billy upon his retirement from racing.

Free Drop Billy, a 3-year-old son of Union Rags, has won two of eight starts and has earnings of $625,220. He won on debut as a 2-year-old by three lengths, then finished second in the Grade 3 Sanford Stakes and the Grade 1 Hopeful Stakes at Saratoga before winning the Grade 1 Breeders’ Futurity at Keeneland.

The apple often doesn’t fall far from the tree, but it did with Flameaway. Trainer Mark Casse said that despite having some famously high-strung relatives, Flameaway is a laid-back horse whom he feels confident about leading through the Kentucky Derby hoopla.

Flameaway’s broodmare sire is 2000 Derby winner Fusaichi Pegasus, whose antics were notorious, and his sire is Scat Daddy, whose offspring “can get a little excited sometimes, too,” Casse said.