LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Shortly after 10 a.m. Sunday, outside barn 41 on the Churchill Downs backstretch, a gaggle of media swarmed around trainer Doug O’Neill to get the lowdown on Nyquist, the undefeated 2-year-old male champion who likely will be favored in Saturday’s Kentucky Derby.

A furlong or so away, outside barn 42, trainer Kiaran McLaughlin sat by himself in a folding chair, having just finished a cellphone conversation. Had things worked out differently in the Florida Derby four weeks ago, it likely would have been McLaughlin at the center of the media scrum.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Dale Romans is back with a Kentucky Derby starter for the sixth time in seven years, which is pretty much the way he likes it.

“There’s nothing like leading one over for the Derby,” said Romans, a Louisville native and lifelong resident.

And with Brody’s Cause, the winner of the Blue Grass Stakes in his last start, Romans believes he has his best shot ever. Strictly in terms of odds, that could be true since the colt figures to be among the top five wagering choices in the 142nd Derby on Saturday at Churchill Downs.

There are not many trainers who have their first Kentucky Derby starter from three decades ago stabled just a few steps from their main residence. But that’s the case for Donnie Von Hemel and Clever Trevor, a 30-year-old millionaire who lives on the trainer’s farm in Piedmont, Okla.

“He’s still living at home,” quipped Von Hemel.

It is not out of the ordinary for an Eclipse Award-winning horse or two to run on Kentucky Derby Day. But Saturday, three are expected, all in different races – with Nyquist going in the Kentucky Derby, Tepin in the Churchill Downs Distaff Turf Mile, and Big Blue Kitten in the Woodford Reserve Turf Classic.

Nyquist and Tepin will be clear-cut favorites to win their races, though perhaps not Big Blue Kitten. The champion turf horse of 2015, he is likely to face a deep, talented group in his first start of 2016.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The globetrotting Lani, who enters the Kentucky Derby off a victory in the Group 2 United Arab Emirates Derby, will become just the second Japanese-based horse to start in the run for the roses. The first was Ski Captain, who finished 14th in the 1995 edition behind Thunder Gulch. In the irons that day was Yutaka Take, who has been aboard Lani in five of his six starts and will ride him in the Derby.

CYPRESS, Calif. – Los Alamitos completed its 12-day spring meeting Sunday with a single-day record for all-sources handle but a decline in average field size compared with its three meetings in 2015.

The track did not release detailed business figures but said statistics would be published this week.

Saturday’s nine-race program had an all-sources handle of $8,286,660, the highest since daytime Thoroughbred racing began at the Orange County track in 2014 following the closure of Hollywood Park the previous year.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The Kentucky Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association has partnered with the children and grandchildren of Kentucky Derby trainers to launch the "Kentucky Derby Kids" campaign on social media. The campaign offers a behind-the-scenes look at the Derby experience, with the kids sharing their experiences and emotions, interviewing their parents, and handicapping the race.

The richest of the races on the list assembled by Churchill Downs that award Kentucky Derby qualifying points is run about 7,400 miles from the twin spires, and some would argue that the winner of the $2 million United Arab Emirates Derby, despite being assured entry into the Kentucky Derby by earning 100 points, is not necessarily qualified.

ALBANY, Calif. – Golden Gate Fields announced Sunday that it has hired the first full-time female race-caller in the U.S., Angela Hermann, to replace Michael Wrona, who has been hired as Santa Anita's announcer.

Wrona concluded his 24-year stint with Golden Gate Fields after the final race Sunday.

ARCADIA, Calif. - Taris, the five-time stakes winner who was third in the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint at Keeneland last October, worked five furlongs in 1:02 at Santa Anita on Sunday in advance of a start in the $300,000 Humana Distaff at Churchill Downs on Saturday.