LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Bettors with the foresight to back Tiz the Law months ago for the Kentucky Derby are among those who will be hoping to cash in on an overlay Saturday.

Although the only blemish on TIZ THE LAW’s stellar record came at Churchill Downs, guessing it was more the sloppy conditions than the overall racing surface that got him beat in the Kentucky Jockey Club. He’s carved through his competition with aplomb this season and topped it off with a dominating 109-Beyer Speed Figure performance over this distance in the Runhappy Travers. He will likely face a quicker pace situation than he received in the Travers when prompting moderate splits, but has a good break from the gate and can find a nice position while in the clear.

The Kentucky Derby on the first Saturday in May – or, as it turns out in 2020, the first Saturday in September – is the Super Bowl of American Thoroughbred racing. Every trainer and jockey in the sport dreams, however casually, of giving or getting a leg up to answer the call to the post for the classic race.

It has been more than 15 years since trainer John Shirreffs won the Kentucky Derby, but when he is asked of that glorious May day back in 2005 at Churchill Downs, the memories are vivid. The crowd noise, the feeling when Giacomo began his move, the temporary disbelief, the presence of mind to take it all in, all before being shepherded to the winner’s podium, then a post-race celebration in the Derby Museum, before finally heading back to the barn to check on his horse – it all comes flooding back.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Jockey Brian Hernandez Jr., who was scheduled to ride Art Collector in the Kentucky Derby on Saturday before the colt was declared from consideration because of a minor injury, took off his mounts Tuesday at Churchill Downs after testing positive for COVID-19.

Hernandez said from his Louisville home that he tested positive on Monday, but that he also tested positive for the virus antibodies on Tuesday.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Tiz the Law, likely to be one of the heaviest Kentucky Derby favorites of the last half-century, was assigned post 17 in a field of 18 3-year-olds when entries were drawn Tuesday at Churchill Downs.

Longtime Churchill oddsmaker Mike Battaglia listed Tiz the Law as the 3-5 program favorite, followed by two rivals who drew to either side of him in the far outside gates, Honor A. P. (post 16, 5-1) and Authentic (post 18, 8-1).

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Art Collector, the likely second wagering choice Saturday in the 146th Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs, is out after suffering a minor foot ailment.

As a young man in Venezuela, Juan Carlos Avila, like many Venezuelan youths, had designs on becoming a professional baseball player. He tried second base, third base, and then realized the whole enterprise was a dead end.

“I tried to make myself better; it didn’t work,” Avila said.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – With the arrival of the heavy favorite and the post-position draw both set for the following morning at Churchill Downs, Max Player was sent through his final pre-race workout early Monday ahead of the 146th Kentucky Derby.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Unlike in past years, when a $1 minimum for superfecta wagers was in effect for all races on the Kentucky Oaks and Derby cards, Churchill this year will be offering 10-cent superfectas on all Sept. 4-5 races.

The logic behind the former policy was that dime supers could cause logjams at wagering windows both at the track and at simulcast outlets. Theoretically, dime-super bettors would spend more time calling out numerous combinations that could create long delays at mutuel windows at brick-and-mortar facilities.