LOUISVILLE, Ky. - After winning three straight grass races at Gulfstream Park this winter, Howe Great was given a chance to get on the Kentucky Derby trail, but his fifth-place finish in the Blue Grass Stakes three weeks ago convinced everyone associated with him that he needed to stay on the turf.

Nine of the 15 starters in the Kentucky Oaks were listed as separate interests in the only Oaks futures pool offered earlier this year (March 2-4) by Churchill. By any gauge, that’s a pretty high percentage to actually make it to the starting gate, considering the list of 23 separate wagering interests was composed two months beforehand.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Before dawn Sunday morning at Churchill, the wearing of a parka wouldn’t have been entirely absurd. Pockets of truly cold air drifted through the darkness. Three days later, the Downs has turned subtropical. The temperature Tuesday night didn’t drop much below 70 degrees, and the mercury was expected to hit 90 late Wednesday afternoon.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – With all the talk that the best horses in this 3-year-old crop made it unscathed through the winter months and will be in the starting gate for the 138th Kentucky Derby, it must be noted that there was one glaring exception: Algorithms, who in mid-February was widely considered as perhaps the preeminent Derby contender along with Union Rags.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Gemologist, El Padrino, and Take Charge Indy were on the track for the first time Wednesday, one day after arriving from south Florida.

Gemologist made quite the striking presence galloping 1 1/4 miles, while El Padrino went the same distance though somewhat less enthusiastically.

“Both Derby horses got over the ground really well,” trainer Todd Pletcher said. “Gemologist looked like he was loving it out there. Padrino is not the most enthusiastic galloper of all time, but I thought he showed good energy.”

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Four of the major contenders for Saturday’s Kentucky Derby schooled in the starting gate Wednesday morning following the renovation break.

Bodemeister and Union Rags, who figure to vie for favoritism in the Derby, were well behaved as was Alpha, the Wood Memorial runner-up. Went the Day Well, who was wearing blinkers, was a bit antsy in the gate and had to be backed out and reloaded.

Bodemeister did go in, back out, and reload, but stood still during his session. Union Rags and Alpha also stood quietly.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The cell phone rang while walking the Churchill Downs backstretch and the quiet voice on the other end of the line, before politely asking if it were a good time to converse, identified itself: “This is Aidan O’Brien,” it said.

It was like being telephoned by a mythological figure.

AUBURN, Wash. -- Emerald Downs will warm up for Saturday’s Kentucky Derby Day festivities with a seven-race card on Friday evening. A simulcast of the Kentucky Oaks at about 2:45 p.m. Pacific precedes live racing, which begins at 6. Budweiser and Bud Light are $2.50 on Fridays at Emerald, and there’s live music adjacent to the winner’s circle.

Arlington Park and the state’s horsemen remained at loggerheads on Wednesday afternoon over a contract governing the upcoming meet that is scheduled to open on Friday, a dispute that is threatening the in-state simulcast of Friday’s Kentucky Oaks and Saturday’s Kentucky Derby.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The Kentucky Derby wasn’t the only race trainer Kelly Breen entered My Adonis in on Wednesday. 

With My Adonis’s status for the Derby still up on the air, he’ll be the first also-eligible in the history of the race, Breen took out a little insurance by also putting his star 3-year-old in Saturday’s $75,000 Canonero II Stakes at Pimlico.