Grade 3, $100,345 Sham Stakes, one mile, Santa Anita, Jan. 6, 2018
(10 Derby qualifying points for a win, 4 for second, 2 for third, 1 for fourth)

Winner: McKinzie, by Street Sense
Trainer: Bob Baffert
Jockey: Mike Smith
Owners: Karl Watson, Mike Pegram, Paul Weitman
Beyer Speed Figure: 97

In a point in time when there seems to be a contest to see how infrequently good horses can race, it is a welcomed development that legitimate Kentucky Derby candidates are competing in these initial days of January, some four months out from the first leg of the Triple Crown.

ARCADIA, Calif. – Bolt d’Oro will resume galloping this week after recovering from a pulled muscle that interrupted his training and ultimately postponed his 2018 debut.

Veterinarians gave owner-trainer Mick Ruis a green light to resume Bolt d’Oro’s training program after a nuclear scan on the colt showed no irregularities. 

ARCADIA, Calif. – Cool Bobby, one of the top Kentucky Derby prospects on the West Coast, is off the Derby trail after undergoing surgery for a chip in his left front ankle, trainer Peter Eurton said Sunday at Santa Anita.

Cool Bobby would have been one of the top contenders in the Grade 3, $100,000 Sham Stakes on Jan. 6. But two days after his most recent workout, at Santa Anita on Dec. 15, "he had a little heat," Eurton said.

"We took a picture – bingo," Eurton said.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – The road to the Kentucky Derby is full of potholes. In the Northeast, those potholes can be filled with ice and snow.

New York’s road to the May 5 Kentucky Derby is scheduled to open Monday with the $150,000 Jerome Stakes, which offers 10 Derby qualifying points to the winner. However, the forecast calls for frigid conditions that could prompt the cancellation of Monday’s eight-race card, likely postponing the Jerome until next weekend.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Owner Ron Lombardi and trainer Jason Servis have a very simple and logical explanation for keeping Kentucky Derby prospect Firenze Fire in New York this winter.

“Ron and I talked about it, and he thought New York was the softest path to the Derby, and I agreed with him,” Servis said.

Weather permitting, New York’s path to the Kentucky Derby is scheduled to begin Monday with the $150,000 Jerome Stakes at Aqueduct, and Firenze Fire was one of eight horses entered Friday for the one-turn mile.

ARCADIA, Calif. – Bolt d’Oro has been taking it fairly easy since the Breeders’ Cup, but soon he and the rest of the 3-year-old class of 2018 at Santa Anita will begin their serious preparations toward the May 5 Kentucky Derby, which locally based horses have won four times in the last six years, with California Chrome, Nyquist, I’ll Have Another, and, of course, Triple Crown winner American Pharoah.

$402,400 Springboard Mile; one mile; Remington Park; Dec. 17, 2017
(10 Derby qualifying points for a win, 4 for second, 2 for third, 1 for fourth)

Winner: Greyvitos, by Malibu Moon
Trainer: Adam Kitchingman
Jockey: Victor Espinoza
Owner: Triple B Farms
Beyer Speed Figure: 88

Grade 1, $300,000 Los Alamitos CashCall Futurity, 1 1/16 miles, Los Alamitos, Dec. 9, 2017

(10 Derby qualifying points for a win, 4 for second, 2 for third, 1 for fourth)

Winner: McKinzie, by Street Sense
Trainer: Bob Baffert
Jockey: Mike Smith
Owner: Karl Watson, Mike Pegram, and Paul Weitman
Beyer Speed Figure: 91

Grade 2, $250,000 Remsen Stakes, 1 1/8 miles, Aqueduct, Dec. 2, 2017
(10 Derby qualifying points for a win, 4 for second, 2 for third, 1 for fourth)

Winner: Catholic Boy, by More Than Ready
Trainer: Jonathan Thomas
Jockey: Manny Franco
Owner: Robert LaPenta
Beyer Speed Figure: 91