ARCADIA, Calif. - The racing week begins at Santa Anita on Thursday with a carryover of $349,792 in the single-ticket jackpot portion of the $2 pick six.

The pick six covers the third through eighth races on a program that begins at 1 p.m. Pacific. The pool of new money in the pick six could surpass $150,000.

The single-ticket portion of the pool has not been hit since April 6 when a bettor in Lake Forest, Calif., about 60 miles south of Santa Anita, purchased a ticket for $14,400 that returned $1,199,286. The bet was placed at a satellite wagering facility.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – As if the Kentucky Derby itself isn’t enough, the racing action Saturday at Churchill Downs will be even more significant – and fun – with another half-dozen graded races to entertain fans beforehand.

All six should have some sort of impact within their respective divisions, and not one of them is a bad one. All but the first one, the Humana Distaff, are linked in multirace wagers that end with the Derby. First post for the 14-race card is 10:30 a.m. Eastern, with the Humana Distaff going as the sixth at 1:13. The Derby is race 12.

Lone Star Park leading rider Iram Diego will be reuniting with one of the best horses he has ever ridden Sunday for the track’s Grade 3, $200,000 Steve Sexton Mile. Iron Fist gave Diego a notable win in February, capturing Sam Houston’s premier dirt race for older horses, the $100,000 Maxxam Gold Cup.

Dominick Schettino will watch Saturday’s 143rd Kentucky Derby with mixed emotions.

As the original trainer and co-owner of Always Dreaming, Schettino can’t help but feel some remorse about no longer having a stake in a horse who has a very live chance to win the world’s most famous horse race.

Royal Squeeze, who won the $75,000 Jeblar last Sunday in his first start since September, was also making his first start for trainer Ralph Nicks.

“He probably spoiled me right off the bat,” Nicks said. “I like his style.”

Royal Squeeze earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 93 in the seven-furlong Jeblar, winning by 1 3/4 lengths under Tyler Gaffalione.

“Tyler rode an outstanding race,” Nicks said. “His patience – and then the turn of foot [Royal Squeeze] had – it was a big effort.”

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – With both the Churchill Downs Racing Club and Fair Grounds Racing Club intending to run a horse in the Pat Day Mile on the Derby undercard, paddock passes will be at a premium before that race.

Each of the partnerships comprise 200 members. Gary Palmisano Jr., who helps manage both groups, said a random drawing will be held to determine which members will be allotted a paddock pass. Every ownership entity in every Derby-weekend stakes is given about a dozen paddock passes.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – This is the 22nd year for the Oaks-Derby Double, the innovative two-day wager that has linked Churchill’s two major races every year since 1996. The minimum bet is $1.

The Oaks also leads off a pick-three wager (50-cent minimum) leading into the Woodford Reserve Turf Classic and the Derby. The first year for that wager was 2009. In 2016, all-sources handle was $2,537,553 on the double and $790,825 on the pick three.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Easily the biggest overlay from the Kentucky Oaks Future Wager pool held Feb. 24-26 is Miss Sky Warrior, who was dismissed at 52-1 but figures as one of the favorites Friday in the filly classic.

Another potential bargain from the Oaks futures is the mutuel field at 9-1. That group is comprised of the late-blooming Paradise Woods, who is the program favorite, plus eight more entrants (including also-eligible Summer Luck).

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – He has had about seven years to regularly practice his English, but after he speaks for a while outside his native tongue, Spanish, you can hear Antonio Sano wearying. He sprinkles in a “si” here, a “pero” there, casts for the right word, but continues on gamely, trying to describe how he came to Churchill Downs last week from Florida with a horse named Gunnevera.

It is quite a tale.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The Kentucky Derby and Kentucky Oaks contenders, all wearing keepsake saddle towels printed with their names, had long since cleared the Churchill Downs track last Sunday, taking the crowds with them, when an unmarked, unimposing bay filly walked to the gap in a plain yellow saddle towel bearing no identification. Her identity was only revealed by the man walking at her head – Hall of Fame trainer Neil Drysdale, a quiet, deliberate horseman who prefers to let his horses do the talking.