Jockey James Graham said he liked what he saw from Ive Struck a Nerve in the Risen Star last weekend and is looking for him to improve even more.

At 135-1 odds, Ive Struck a Nerve rallied from last to first to win the Risen Star, the final prep for the Louisiana Derby.

“He ran a good race,” Graham said. “He really did. And I think there’s more improvement if he settles more. He doesn’t have to be as far back. Maybe he can keep stepping forward. I think if he settles the way he did . . . you can do anything with him.

Trainer Andrew McKeever clearly wasn’t thrilled by the outcome of the Bayou Handicap, in which Daisy Devine lost by a head to Snuggs and Kisses, but McKeever said Daisy Devine came out of the race in good order.

The Grade 1 Jenny Wiley, which Daisy Devine won last year on the Keeneland turf, remains the prime early-season goal for her, McKeever said. The 1 1/16-mile race will be run April 13.

The Bayou, written for turf, was run at 1 1/16 miles on dirt. Daisy Devine carried 126 pounds, 12 more than Snuggs and Kisses.

ARCADIA, Calif. – The consistent gelding Fire With Fire probably should have knocked out his second allowance condition a long time ago. In California, he has tried to win it six times.

Sunday at Santa Anita, Fire With Fire will try again in the eighth-race feature. Nine older grass horses race at 1 1/8 miles in a second-level optional $62,500 claimer, a class level that has frustrated Fire With Fire.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Although Sunday’s $150,000 Palm Beach Stakes at Gulfstream Park will not have an impact on determining eligibility for this year’s Kentucky Derby field, as has been the case in the past, that’s not to say the Grade 3 turf fixture won’t ultimately prove to be a Derby prep for one or more of its 11 prospective starters.

NEW ORLEANS – The Fair Grounds always held a special place in the heart of jockey E.J. Perrodin, his widow, Lisa Perrodin, was saying last week from her home in Haughton, La.

On Monday, the track’s Hall of Fame will welcome E.J. Perrodin, who in June died of cancer at age 55. Lisa said she and 9-year-old son Devin wouldn’t miss the induction for anything.

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SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y.  – Once upon a time, Saturday’s Grade  1, $750,000 Woodward Stakes at Saratoga was going to be a spectacular race with eight horses, plenty of speed, and some quality closers.

What remains – after the defections of Cross Traffic on Wednesday and Fort Larned on Thursday – is a good race with six starters, and a whole new pace dynamic, one that could compromise the closers.

ARCADIA, Calif. – For the first time at the current winter-spring meeting, there is a pick-five carryover of $226,900 for Friday’s eight-race program at Santa Anita. There also is a carryover for Friday in the pick six of $44,521.

Upset wins by Just Win Baby ($59.60) and Kessabtsi ($54.60) and no winning favorites led to the carryover in the 50-cent bet.

The pick five covers the first five races each day. The pool should exceed $1 million in new money.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – After finding Itsmyluckyday and 2-year-old champion Shanghai Bobby a little too much to handle going two turns making his 3-year-old debut in the Grade 3 Holy Bull, Clearly Now will get both distance and class relief when he turns back to seven furlongs for Saturday’s $150,000 Swale.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – The return of Summer Applause to the races didn’t go as planned when she finished last in the $400,000 Houston Ladies Classic on Jan. 26 after the saddle slipped early in the race and jockey Miguel Mena lost the irons.

On Saturday, Summer Applause will have a new trainer and a new jockey when she makes her second start of the year in the Grade 2, $200,000 Top Flight Handicap for fillies and mares at Aqueduct.

The Beyer Speed Figure of 99 that Hit the Road Lee earned in his last start will make him a strong favorite in Saturday night’s $50,000 Fremont at Delta Downs. The one-mile race for 4-year-olds and up is restricted to horses who have raced for a claiming price at Delta since Oct. 18, 2012.

Hit the Road Lee was a $10,000 claim from a 6 1/2-furlong race that he won by more than five lengths Nov. 3 at Delta. He put up a Beyer Figure of 85 that night, but the best was yet to come for new connections Christine G. Hardy and trainer Keith Bourgeois.