LEXINGTON, Ky. – A couple of final tweaks to the Kentucky Derby field could be forthcoming Saturday at Keeneland when a field of 12 3-year-olds goes postward in the 37th running of the Grade 3, $200,000 Lexington Stakes.

The Lexington and the Arkansas Derby at Oaklawn are the last two races in which horses can earn qualifying points toward the 144th Kentucky Derby on May 5, but only two Lexington starters, both in from California, stand a realistic chance at making the final cut. The points offering for the Lexington is 20-8-4-2 for the first four finishers.

Grade 2, $1 million Blue Grass Stakes, 1 1/8 miles, Keeneland, April 7, 2018
(100 Derby qualifying points for a win, 40 for second, 20 for third, 10 for fourth)

Winner: Good Magic, by Curlin
Trainer: Chad Brown
Jockey: Jose Ortiz
Owner: e Five Racing Thoroughbreds and Stonestreet Stables, LLC
Beyer Speed Figure: 95

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Magnum Moon and Solomini, the first- and second-place finishers in the $900,000 Rebel Stakes at Oaklawn Park on March 17, drew side by side for their rematch in Saturday’s Grade 1, $1 million Arkansas Derby.

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Lone Sailor had his first breeze since finishing second in the Louisiana Derby when he went a half-mile in 47.80 seconds before dawn Wednesday over a fast Churchill Downs track. James Graham, who has the mount for the Kentucky Derby, was aboard.

“He’s always been a very good work horse,” said Tom Amoss, who trains Lone Sailor for GMB Racing. “He was in hand and showed good extension of stride and all the things you’re looking for in an important work like this.”

Except for the college basketball teams at Villanova and Notre Dame, no one has had a better spring than trainer Todd Pletcher, who has shrewdly plotted the placement of his 3-year-olds to knock off three of the biggest final-round Kentucky Derby preps in this country and will seek a fourth on Saturday in the Grade 1 Arkansas Derby with Magnum Moon.

Magnum Moon
Malibu Moon–Dazzling Song, by Unbridled’s Song
Bred in Kentucky by Ramona S. Bass LLC ($380,000 Keeneland September yearling purchase by Robert and Lawana Low)

WHO’S HOT

Grade 2, $1 million Wood Memorial; 1 1/8 miles; Aqueduct; April 7, 2018
(100 Derby qualifying points for a win, 40 for second, 20 for third, 10 for fourth)

Winner: Vino Rosso, by Curlin
Trainer: Todd Pletcher
Jockey: John Velazquez
Owner: Repole Stable and St. Elias Stable
Beyer Speed Figure: 98

Victor Espinoza, a three-time winner of the Kentucky Derby, will go for his fourth when he climbs aboard Bolt d'Oro in this year's running on May 5 at Churchill Downs.

Mick Ruis, the trainer and owner of Bolt d'Oro, made it official late Monday, informing Espinoza's agent, Brian Beach, after a dinner meeting between Ruis and Espinoza that Espinoza would indeed have the mount.

Javier Castellano has called an Audible in his quest for his first Kentucky Derby victory.

Castellano said on Monday that he would ride Audible for trainer Todd Pletcher in the 144th Kentucky Derby on May 5, thus giving up the mount on Bolt d’Oro, on whom he finished second to Justify in last Saturday’s Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby.