ARCADIA, Calif. – Week-by-week through the spring, the 2-year-old filly Big Treat progressively had quicker workouts for trainer Ryan Hanson at Santa Anita.

Big Treat worked a half-mile from the gate in 48.60 seconds on April 10. Two weeks later, she went a half-mile from the gate in 47.80.

Those workouts were the foundation for an attractive debut when Big Treat won a 4 1/2-furlong maiden special weight race for 2-year-old fillies by 10 lengths under apprentice jockey Emily Ellingwood last Friday.

ARCADIA, Calif. – Madone has had five starts, all at a mile on turf, and is already a three-time stakes winner.

The distance does not define the 3-year-old filly’s ability from trainer Simon Callaghan’s perspective.

Madone won her 2021 debut in the Grade 3 Senorita Stakes at Santa Anita on Saturday, but will be given a loftier target in the Grade 1 Belmont Oaks on July 10. The $700,000 Belmont Oaks is run at 1 1/4 miles for 3-year-old fillies on turf, a race within Madone’s ability, Callaghan said.

ARCADIA, Calif. – Jockey Juan Hernandez remained at Santa Anita over the weekend while several of his prominent colleagues rode at Churchill Downs.

Staying home was a profitable decision. Hernandez won five races from Friday through Sunday, including a sweep of the two stakes for 3-year-old fillies on Saturday with Astute in the Angels Flight Stakes at seven furlongs and Madone in the Grade 3 Senorita Stakes at a mile on turf.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – As of Tuesday morning, at least 10 3-year-olds are under consideration for the May 15 Preakness in Baltimore, with the victorious Medina Spirit among three Kentucky Derby starters whose connections are talking about wheeling back two weeks later in the second jewel of the Triple Crown at Pimlico Race Course.

Trainer Brad Cox told Steve Byk on his Sirius radio show that Essential Quality, fourth as the favorite in the Derby, would bypass the Preakness.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – A start against males could be on the agenda at some point this year for Kentucky Oaks winner Malathaat, just when that may occur is something that won’t be decided for a little while.

LOUISVILLE, Ky, - Jim “Mattress Mack” McIngvale has set his plan in motion, and the early Kentucky Derby odds are reflecting it.

McIngvale is running a promotion at his popular buiness, Gallery Furniture, that will repay customers who purchase a mattress set for $3,000 or more if the Kentucky Derby favorite wins. The expected favorite all along has been Essential Quality, and with McIngvale hedging his promotion by betting several million to win on him, Essential Quality’s position of Derby favorite is assured.

Total betting on this year’s Kentucky Oaks on Friday at Churchill Downs in Louisville was down 9.5 percent compared to the record total bet on the race in 2019, the last time the race was held in its traditional spot on the calendar, according to charts of the races.

Total handle on the race this year was $17.46 million, compared to the 2019 record of $19.29 million. This year’s race had 13 horses, while the 2019 edition of the Oaks had a full field of 14 horses.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - King Fury will be scratched from Saturday’s Kentucky Derby after spiking a fever, trainer Ken McPeek said on Friday afternoon.

King Fury, winner of the Lexington Stakes on April 10, was 20-1 on the morning line for the Derby. The colt galloped 1 1/2 miles early Friday morning, but later, did not clean up his feed and was found to have a high temperature and an elevated white cell count.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – How do you deal with the nerves of your first Kentucky Derby? The answer for this year’s class: stay busy.

“Every day is day by day,” said Vicki Oliver, putting her head down to do the work of saddling horses on a weekday afternoon at Keeneland just hours after sending out Hidden Stash for his final Derby breeze.

There are five trainers and four jockeys contesting their first Derby this year. Brad Cox is especially busy in his debut, saddling favored Essential Quality as well as Mandaloun.

World heavyweight boxing champion Tyson Fury will attend Saturday's Kentucky Derby to watch his namesake, King Fury, run for the roses.

Trainer Ken McPeek named the colt, who races for Fern Circle Stables, Three Chimneys Farm, and Magdalena Racing, in honor of the boxer. He tweeted at Fury this week inviting him to attend the Derby as a guest of the connections. Plans were quickly made for Fury, who is training in Las Vegas, to fly in on Saturday morning.