Wednesday was supposed to be entry day for the Santa Anita Derby. And the Blue Grass Stakes. And the Wood Memorial. All would have been run Saturday, all as final major preps for the Kentucky Derby four weeks later on May 2 at Churchill Downs.

Now, all three are at best postponed – for weeks or months – or at worst canceled. The uncertainty over those races is but a microcosm of what the sport is going through owing to the coronavirus pandemic, which as of Wednesday has shuttered all but a handful of tracks, including Santa Anita, Keeneland, and Aqueduct.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – One locally based 3-year-old committed to the May 2 Arkansas Derby at Oaklawn Park is King Guillermo, upset winner of the Tampa Bay Derby on March 7. Trainer Juan Avila said King Guillermo is scheduled to have his first work since that 4 3/4-length victory here Saturday, when he’ll go five furlongs immediately after the renovation break.

WHO’S HOT

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Five new names are in the lineup for the fourth pool in the 2020 Kentucky Derby Future Wager, which opens Friday at noon Eastern for the customary three-day run.

Trainer Patrick Biancone said Monday that his Tampa Bay Derby runner-up Sole Volante is still on target for the $750,000 Arkansas Derby on May 2 at Oaklawn Park. Sole Volante, winner of the Grade 3 Sam F. Davis at Tampa earlier this winter, has had just one work since the Tampa Derby, an easy half-mile in 50 seconds on March 15 at Palm Meadows.

“Since we had no intention of running in the Florida Derby, I gave him a little break,” Biancone said. “He’s in good condition, but he’ll be back on the work tab this week with the Arkansas Derby the plan, if the race goes.”

Everyone is looking for something – important stuff like a return to normal, or less important stuff like a horse to bet.

Jockey Manny Franco was looking for something Saturday afternoon at Gulfstream Park. Franco was riding favorite Tiz the Law in the Florida Derby, when he snuck a peak over his right shoulder at the five-sixteenths pole and again at the eighth pole.

Grade 1, $750,000 Florida Derby, 1 1/8 miles, Gulfstream Park, March 28, 2020
(100 Derby qualifying points for a win, 40 for second, 20 for third, 10 for fourth)
Winner: Tiz the Law, by Constitution
Trainer: Barclay Tagg
Jockey: Manny Franco
Owners: Sackatoga Stable
Beyer Speed Figure: 96

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – As a final Kentucky Derby prep, Tiz the Law’s 4 1/4 length triumph in Saturday’s Grade 1 Curlin Florida Derby would have been about as good as it gets under normal circumstances. That decisive yet not overly taxing victory came on the heels of an eight-week layoff that would likely have had the once-beaten New York-bred primed for his peak performance five weeks down the road on Derby day.

The three tracks that host the Triple Crown have agreed to postpone the late nomination period for those races, which would have closed Monday, owing to the postponement of the Kentucky Derby because of the coronavirus pandemic and its potential impact on the Preakness and Belmont Stakes, according to a release put out Sunday by Churchill Downs, which hosts the Derby.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Give the best horse the perfect trip in any race and the results usually turn out the way they did in Saturday’s Grade 1 Curlin Florida Derby.  The 7-5 favorite Tiz the Law pulled away to a convincing 4 1/4-length victory over longshot Shivaree in the finale of an outstanding 14-race program decided in front of an eerily empty grandstand in deference to the coronavirus pandemic.