LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Forget becoming a Hall of Famer or a legend. All these folks want to do Saturday is emulate the likes of jockeys Ronnie Franklin and Stewart Elliott or trainers Barclay Tagg and Chip Woolley.

And just what did those guys do? Well, their first time up at the Kentucky Derby, they absolutely knocked it out of the park.

They were Derby rookies who tasted victory in their first go-around – an extraordinary act that five jockeys and five trainers will be trying to accomplish Saturday in the 141st Run for the Roses at Churchill Downs.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The jockey Christophe Soumillon never has ridden in the Kentucky Derby. He will do so for the first time Saturday when he gets astride Mubtaahij. Do not expect Soumillon to be overwhelmed. Do not expect mistakes.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – There finally was an El Kabeir sighting on the track Wednesday at Churchill Downs, but even that didn’t quell whispers that the gray colt might not be running in Saturday’s Kentucky Derby.

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LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Stories abound at the Kentucky Derby, rippling from the combatants themselves and their human connections in predictable arcs: the tear-jerker, the ugly duckling, the little guy on the big stage. This Derby colt Mubtaahij? He is a four-legged travelogue.

ARCADIA, Calif. – She’s a Big Winner often gets things her own way.

The stakes-winning 3-year-old filly has proven to be forceful before and during races. She won the Sweet Life Stakes at about 6 1/2 furlongs on the hillside turf course at Santa Anita in February, racing near the lead throughout, and returns to that course for Friday’s $75,000 Ultrafleet Stakes for 3-year-old fillies.

“I think the distance will be good for her,” jockey Brice Blanc said on Wednesday. “She’s very aggressive and very speedy. She has a tendency to want to do too much.”

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Twenty-two horses were entered Wednesday morning for the Kentucky Derby on Saturday, with just one surprise, the entry of recent maiden winner Tale of Verve.

Otherwise, everything went as planned Wednesday morning, with the 21 other horses entered as expected.

ARCADIA, Calif. – Walk through the main stable gate at Santa Anita, and the first barn on the left quickly catches the eye.

Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert is based there, the exterior walls of the barn adorned with the names of his Breeders’ Cup and Triple Crown race winners. Two runners from that stable – American Pharoah and Dortmund – are top contenders for Saturday’s $2 million Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs.

The trainer next door has a horse in the race, too.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Bolo holds the distinction of being the only horse in this Kentucky Derby field who has yet to win on dirt. Bolo, the winner of the Eddie Logan Stakes by 4 1/2 lengths on the Santa Anita turf in December, has run creditably on dirt, finishing third to Dortmund in both the San Felipe and Santa Anita Derby.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Larry Jones stablemates I’m a Chatterbox and Lovely Maria will be among the wagering favorites Friday in the 141st Kentucky Oaks at Churchill Downs, but it wasn’t always that way.

In fact, when the only Oaks Future Wager pool of the 2015 season was held two months ago, I’m a Chatterbox was 6-1 – the lowest of all the separately listed interests – while Lovely Maria closed at 39-1, making her arguably the best “value” from a futures pool that ran Feb. 27 to March 1.

Sheldon Russell, who fractured ribs and punctured a lung in a Saturday spill at Pimlico, was feeling better and in good spirits on Tuesday, according to his agent, Marty Leonard.

Russell had a tough day Monday, according to Leonard, after doctors had to insert a tube to drain fluid from a lung. But Russell felt good enough Monday evening to get out of bed and walk around his wing of Sinai Hospital, which is located near Pimlico.

Leonard was hopeful that Russell could be released from the hospital in two to three days.