While the Kentucky Derby is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for every horse in the field, the same could be said for many about the distance they will run Saturday. The final furlong in the 1 1/4-mile race will be uncharted territory in competition for all of its entries, many of whom will never race the classic distance again.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – It would be off the mark to say that Barbara Banke simply “carried on” at Stonestreet Farm following the death of husband Jess Jackson five years ago.

Lucy Gay Bassett, wife of former Keeneland President Ted Bassett, died on May 1 at her home on Lanark Farm in Woodford County, Ky, near Midway. She was 87.

Born in Lexington on Aug. 5, 1928, Lucy Bassett was the daughter of the A. B. and Elizabeth Simms Gay. A. B. Gay was a prominent breeder and farm owner and served on the board of the Keeneland Association for years.

Zenyatta, the 2010 Horse of the Year and newly elected Hall of Famer, was bred to Medaglia d’Oro for the 2017 foaling season.

The mating was announced Monday on the official Zenyatta website, which added that the mare would be checked in 15 days to determine whether she was in foal.

It marked the fifth trip to the breeding shed for Zenyatta, a 12-year-old daughter of Street Cry, and her second trip to a stallion at Darley’s Jonabell Farm. The late Street Cry also stood at Darley’s U.S. base.

Regent n’Flashy, the dam of 2010 Queen’s Plate winner and Canadian champion Big Red Mike, has died, according to an announcement by owner Dom Romero’s Terra Farms.

The 21-year-old daughter of Vice Regent was bred in Ontario by Terra Farms and was unraced. She was bred to Smart Strike for her first mating at age 3 and was offered in foal at the 1998 Keeneland November breeding stock sale, but finished under her reserve with a final bid of $90,000.

The foal in utero was Classic Mike, a stakes-placed gelding who was the dam’s first of nine winners from as many foals to race.

What do Strike the Gold, Sea Hero, and Pleasantly Perfect have in common? They all have been at stud in Turkey.

While Kentucky Derby winner Strike Gold died in that country in 2011, Derby winner Sea Hero is still at stud there, as is Pleasantly Perfect.

A fair number of stallions shuttle between the Northern and Southern hemispheres during their respective breeding seasons, but few if any have done it to the degree of success achieved by More Than Ready.

The 19-year-old son of Southern Halo was the only stallion on the planet to rank in the top 25 by progeny earnings in both North America and Australia in each of the past five racing seasons, including the one currently in progress.

Mineshaft could be forgiven if he’s starting to develop a complex.

The stallion is the only Horse of the Year by the great stallion A.P. Indy and now stands directly across the aisle from his pensioned sire in the Lane’s End stallion barn.

Yet one rarely hears the 2003 Horse of the Year discussed when the topic turns to A.P. Indy’s sons at stud. Most of the headline attention goes to veteran classic sire Malibu Moon or to the commercially popular champion Bernardini.

Ken Ramsey has never hesitated to support his homebred pride and joy, turf champion and leading sire Kitten’s Joy, with the lion’s share of the mares from his own broodmare band, and he has been rewarded for his faith with many high-end runners. Still, one target remains elusive. He’s brought three homebred colts by the stallion to the Kentucky Derby, with all of them running unplaced.

There is very little Giant’s Causeway hasn’t done while fashioning one of the most complete racing and breeding careers in the last two decades.