INDIANTOWN, Fla. – There was little time for trainer Bill Mott to wallow in the disappointment that was Hidden Scroll’s sixth-place finish in Saturday’s Grade 1 Florida Derby.

Twelve hours after one of his horses stepped off the Kentucky Derby trail, Mott watched another, Tacitus, put in his final workout for next Saturday’s Grade 2, $750,000 Wood Memorial at Aqueduct.

ARCADIA, Calif. – Extra Hope, Roadster, and Synthesis – half the probable starters for Saturday’s Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby – had their final prerace workouts on Sunday.

Roadster, who won an allowance race with an $80,000 claiming option at a mile in his 3-year-old debut on March 1, worked six furlongs in 1:12.60, the fastest of 19 works at the distance. The time was quicker than Roadster’s preceding workout – six furlongs in 1:14 – on March 26.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Trainer Jason Servis said all was well Sunday morning with his undefeated Florida Derby winner, Maximum Security, who earned a 101 Beyer Speed Figure for his relatively easy, wire-to-wire victory in the Grade 1 fixture here Saturday.

Like cherry blossoms annually blooming in the spring, it has become a rite rather than an exception that the number of horses with designs on the Kentucky Derby exceeds the 20 who are allowed to start. Because of that, the system used to cap the starting Derby field – a points system first employed in 2013 – itself becomes critical and open to scrutiny.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – Saeed bin Suroor, the trainer of two-time Dubai World Cup winner Thunder Snow, isn’t a huge one for pulling back the curtain on his training operation, but whatever he and his team have done to harness the difficult personality that is Thunder Snow, it has worked.

Thunder Snow showed just what can happen when his inner demons bubble to the surface when he bucked and refused to race just after the start of the 2017 Kentucky Derby. Those who’ve been around him during his trips to the U.S. describe a horse who takes a lot of attention.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – One hundred days after winning his maiden under a $16,000 claiming tag, Maximum Security became a Grade 1 winner and established himself as one of the leading contenders for the Kentucky Derby after cruising to a relatively easy 3 1/2 length victory over the 71-1 Bodexpress in Saturday’s $1 million Florida Derby at Gulfstream Park.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – Trainer Brendan Walsh spent six years during the early and mid-aughts working in Dubai. Jockey Jose Ortiz got to this place for the first time Wednesday, but he’s riding like he’s been here all his life.

After guiding Coal Front to victory Saturday in the Godolphin Mile, his first mount at Meydan Racecourse, Ortiz piloted Plus Que Parfait to a win in the Group 2, $2.5 million UAE Derby.

ARCADIA, Calif. – Omaha Beach, who has risen rapidly in the 3-year-old division in recent months, worked a half-mile in 47.80 seconds at Santa Anita on Friday in preparation for the Grade 1 Arkansas Derby at Oaklawn Park on April 13.

Working with a stablemate, Omaha Beach ran two wide and pulled clear under Alex Solis to record the quickest time of 25 works at the distance. Solis, the former jockey, assists trainer Richard Mandella and occasionally works horses.

Mandella timed Omaha Beach in 47.16 seconds and the colt finished several lengths clear of his stablemate.

Mind Control, a multiple stakes winner around one turn, will make his next start at Aqueduct in the Grade 3, $250,000 Bay Shore Stakes at seven furlongs and not the Grade 2, $750,000 Wood Memorial at nine furlongs, trainer Gregg Sacco said Friday.

That decision effectively removes Mind Control from consideration for the Kentucky Derby. Mind Control has 30 qualifying points for the Derby, which as of Friday put him 11th in the standings under the system used by Churchill Downs to determine the 20 horses for the Kentucky Derby.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – Blue Point went down to the 1,200-meter straight-course start of the 2018 Al Quoz Sprint expected to emerge a winner of the Group 1 turf dash. Instead, he never emerged from the starting gate. Blue Point acted up behind the gate, cut himself, and was scratched.

Oh well – there’s still 2019. Blue Point, 5, is a year older, at least as fast, and potentially wiser going into the $2 million Al Quoz on Saturday at Meydan.