Churchill made the decision to keep the pari-mutuel bets in play after “numerous internal and external discussions,” according to Darren Rogers, the track’s senior director of communications. On Tuesday, Churchill postponed the Derby until Sept. 5 due to the upheaval caused by the coronavirus outbreak, raising questions about the fate of the bets in the future pools.

Grade 3, $217,010 Jeff Ruby Steaks, 1 1/8 miles (all-weather), Turfway Park, March 14, 2020

(20 Derby qualifying points for a win, 8 for second, 4 for third, 2 for fourth)

Winner: Field Pass, by Lemon Drop Kid

Trainer: Mike Maker

Jockey: Irad Ortiz Jr.

The road to the Kentucky Derby just got longer, and with that trainers will have to adjust their preparation for a race postponed by four months, including those with horses scheduled to run Saturday in the Grade 2, $1 million Louisiana Derby at Fair Grounds.

“We had been gearing our horses to be ready for the first Saturday in May,” said Mark Casse, who sends out Enforceable and Lynn’s Map in the Louisiana Derby. “This is new territory for all of us. But we’ll get through it.”

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Jockey Jose Ortiz will take the remainder of the Gulfstream Park Championship meet off after reporting he still felt some discomfort in his right wrist, injured in a post parade mishap here last month, his agent, Jimmy Riccio, said on Wednesday.

Riccio said Ortiz made the decision after riding Basha in Wednesday’s third race.

When the calendar flipped to 2020, one might have imagined trainer Brad Cox having Taraz or British Idiom, both Fair Grounds-based at the time, in the Fair Grounds Oaks and Mr. Monomoy in the Louisiana Derby. None of those horses will start Saturday on the biggest card of the Fair Grounds meet, but Cox still will be well represented in both races.

Bonny South, who looks like second choice to Finite, starts in the Fair Grounds Oaks, while Cox runs two, Wells Bayou and Shake Some Action, in the Grade 2, $1 million Louisiana Derby.

Anneau d’Or, a close second in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile in November but ninth as the even-money favorite in the Grade 2 Risen Star Stakes last month at Fair Grounds, is on schedule for a start in the Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby on April 4.

Anneau d’Or worked six furlongs in 1:12.80 at Golden Gate Fields last Saturday, the colt’s second workout since the loss in the Risen Star on Feb. 15.

:: KENTUCKY DERBY 2020: Derby Watch, point standings, prep schedule, news, and more

Trainer Pete Eurton was relieved his Plan A for Royal Act worked out, because Plans B and C ended up going away.

Eurton had desired running Royal Act in the Grade 2, $1 million Louisiana Derby on Saturday at Fair Grounds, believing the race’s 1 3/16 miles would be of benefit to his colt. But until entry time Saturday, Royal Act was in danger of winding up on the also-eligible list, as there were 14 others who were preferred under the race’s conditions.

Enforceable

Tapit–Justwhistledixie, by Dixie Union Bred in Kentucky by Clearsky Farms

The road to the 2020 Kentucky Derby has been thrown into flux, but for now it continues with Saturday’s Grade 2 Louisiana Derby, with the regally bred Enforceable the favorite.

:: KENTUCKY DERBY 2020: Derby Watch, point standings, prep schedule, news, and more

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas, who is wintering at Oaklawn, has pretty much seen it all when it comes to the Kentucky Derby – having won four runnings. This year, the race will have a completely different look, with the coronavirus forcing its postponement until Sept. 5.

“It’s going to change the dynamics, going to change the field, I think, quite a bit,” Lukas said when asked about the later date. “I personally don’t think they’ll get 20. A number of things could happen.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Todd Pletcher had Gouverneur Morris as his main hope for the Kentucky Derby when the race was still scheduled for May 2, even though the gray colt was far short on qualifying points.

But with the new Sept. 5 date having been set for the Kentucky Derby, not only does Pletcher have far more opportunity for Gouverneur Morris to crack the lineup, but the possibility now exists that a late bloomer might ultimately surface from his deep bench.

“It could work out in favor of a few of ours,” Pletcher said.