Irad Ortiz Jr. will ride Improbable in the Kentucky Derby on May 4 at Churchill Downs, according to Elliott Walden, the chief executive of co-owner WinStar Farm.

Jose Ortiz, Irad's brother, rode Improbable to a second-place finish in the Arkansas Derby on Saturday. Jose Ortiz has chosen to ride Tacitus, the Wood Memorial winner, in the Kentucky Derby.

Walden said Irad Ortiz was chosen because "he's a top rider, and we won a Belmont Stakes with him with Creator."

"It made sense," Walden said Monday. "He's an Eclipse Award-winning rider."

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – The long-range goal for Midnight Bisou this year remains the Breeders’ Cup Distaff, but the path she will take to get there is still being determined, trainer Steve Asmussen said Monday, the day after Midnight Bisou won the Grade 1, $750,000 Apple Blossom Handicap at Oaklawn Park.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – One trainer who will have a major presence during the Gulfstream Park spring-summer session is Wesley Ward, who makes his home year round in South Florida and plans to spend as much time as possible in the area in the months ahead.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Trainer Phil Serpe has been a fixture during the winter at Gulfstream Park for nearly three decades. But not since 1992, when Serpe won 18 races, has he had a season in South Florida like the one that ended over the weekend with a pair of victories, including Lady Joan’s front-running half-length triumph over the odds-on Thewayiam in an optional claimer on Saturday.

LEXINGTON, Ky. – A pair of Kentucky Oaks hopefuls coming off their most important victory both were out for a five-furlong breeze Monday morning over a fast track at Churchill, with Street Band finishing in 1:00.40 and Champagne Anyone going at a more relaxed pace in 1:03.40.

In their last start, Street Band won the Fair Grounds Oaks for trainer Larry Jones, and Champagne Anyone captured the Gulfstream Park Oaks for trainer Ian Wilkes.

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Blue Prize, whose breakout 2018 included a victory last fall in the Grade 1 Spinster at Keeneland, will return to action Friday when she will be favored in a field of eight fillies and mares in the Grade 3, $100,000 Doubledogdare at 1 1/16 miles on the main track.

LEXINGTON, Ky. – The maneuvers of the Chad Brown stable are not unlike those in the old board game Risk, with moments of relative inactivity being followed by momentous skirmishes and subsequent regroupings.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Chad Brown and Graham Motion each won a turf stakes over the weekend, and the two trainers have 60 percent of the field for Friday’s $100,000 Memories of Silver Stakes for 3-year-old fillies at Aqueduct – provided the race stays on turf.

Only five were entered to run in the 1 1/16-mile Memories of Silver, while three other horses were designated to run only if the race is moved to the main track.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – The New York Racing Association will experiment by conducting twilight racing on Thursdays instead of Fridays at the Belmont Park spring/summer meet that begins April 26.

First post for eight of the 10 Thursdays when racing is conducted will be 3:05 p.m. The exceptions will be May 2 and July 4, the first and last Thursdays of the meet, respectively. Post time for those Thursdays and the other days of the meet is tentatively set for 1:30 p.m.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Wonder Gadot, who defeated males to win the first two legs of the Canadian Triple Crown in 2018, could be in for a big night at Thursday’s 44th annual Sovereign Awards ceremony, which will recognize last season’s outstanding achievements in Canadian racing.