Saturday’s $75,000 Alcatraz at 1 1/16 miles on the turf is the last 3-year-old stakes of the Golden Gate Fields meeting and is a natural spot for the top three finishers of an April 17 prep race here. Life Is a Rock, Northern Causeway, and Duke of Doom finished within a half-length of each other in that one-mile turf race and are signed up to meet again Saturday.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. – It has not reached a crisis point, but trainer John Sadler is winless with his last 19 starters in stakes, dating back to Cozi Rosie’s victory in the Grade 2 Buena Vista Handicap at Santa Anita in February.

In the nearly three months since that race, Sadler has had nine second-place finishes in stakes in California, Arkansas, and Texas, and three third-place finishes in California and Kentucky. Last weekend at Hollywood Park, Sadler’s Sidney’s Candy was second in the Mervyn LeRoy Handicap and Cost of Freedom was the runner-up in the Cool Frenchy Stakes.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – When favorites win the Kentucky Derby, they invariably become even bigger favorites two weeks later in the Preakness. Recent Derby-winning favorites such as Fusaichi Pegasus, Smarty Jones, and Big Brown all became odds-on choices at Pimlico on the heels of unsurprising victories at Churchill Downs.

ELMONT, N.Y. – Barry Irwin, president of the Team Valor International syndicate that owns Kentucky Derby winner Animal Kingdom, did not back away from some controversial comments he made following Saturday’s race, but said he was not referencing former trainers Wayne Catalano or Todd Pletcher when he made them.

Interviewed by NBC Sports' Bob Neumeier on his way to the Churchill Downs winner’s circle, Irwin was asked why he moved all of Team Valor’s horses to trainer Graham Motion, whom Irwin hired late last year.

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. – Say one thing for trainer Tammy Domenosky: She is not shy.

Given the state of racing, regional relocation is a dicey proposition for a trainer these days, but Domenosky left her comfort zone at Canterbury Park two seasons ago to branch out into Chicago. In the space of a year, Domenosky became firmly established on this circuit, scoring 17 wins last summer at Arlington, and 17 more last fall at Hawthorne. This winter, she went to Gulfstream Park for the first time and managed to keep her head above water, winning seven races.

ELMONT, N.Y. – Three extra days and the prospect of facing a nondescript field for $100,000 are why trainer Greg Sacco is bringing Freud’s Honor up from New Jersey for Wednesday’s Times Square Division of the New York Stallion Stakes at Belmont Park.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Oil Painting, with a tightener under her girth, should be primed and ready for Wednesday’s Woodbine feature, a second-level optional claimer for fillies and mares.

Oil Painting, a beautifully bred daughter of Distorted Humor and stakes winner Handpainted, ran in several stakes last year while still a maiden. She was third behind Resentless and Roan Inish in the Fury Stakes in May and went on to finish a distant fourth in the Woodbine Oaks, which was won by Roan Inish.

LOUISVILLE,  Ky. - Animal Kingdom returned $64.40 for a $2 win bet in Pool 3 of the Kentucky Derby Future Wager, the only time the colt was listed as a separate wagering interest during the three parimutuel futures pools offered annually by Churchill Downs.

Animal Kingdom was part of the mutuel field in the first two pools, offered Feb. 18-20 and March 11-13, before emerging as a Derby contender by winning the March 26 Vinery Spiral at Turfway Park and being listed separately when Pool 3 was offered April 1-3.

ELMONT, N.Y. – It isn’t often when a $60,000 stakes race can upstage one that is worth $100,000, but such is the case Wednesday at Belmont Park, where there is a rare midweek stakes doubleheader.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Animal Kingdom ruled over 18 other 3-year-olds in the Kentucky Derby here Saturday, and it looks like he’ll face another large field in the Preakness Stakes at Pimlico on May 21. But the composition of the two fields will be in stark contrast as no more than four of the 18 horses Animal Kingdom defeated in the 137th Derby are likely to come back for the second leg of the Triple Crown.