Bodemeister and Union Rags were major factors on the 2012 Triple Crown trail, and five years later, both are expected to have starters from their first crops in the Kentucky Derby.

Bodemeister, who finished third on last year’s freshman sire list for WinStar Farm, won the Arkansas Derby before finishing a hard-fought second to I’ll Have Another in both the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes. His first crop is highlighted by Always Dreaming, expected to be among the favorites in the Kentucky Derby after a five-length romp in the Florida Derby.

CHURCHILL DOWNS

Weather: Rainy

Fast

Temp. 61

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Rain prior to and during training hours at Churchill Downs on Thursday did little to disrupt the plans of the prospective Kentucky Derby and Oaks starters on the grounds, save for Miss Sky Warrior, who got her scheduled half-mile breeze in about 90 minutes earlier than originally expected.

Louisiana Derby winner Girvin, recovering from a quarter crack in his right front hoof, swam and was treated in a hyperbaric chamber at the Kesmarc Rehabilitation facility in Lexington, Ky., on Thursday rather than training at Keeneland, trainer Joe Sharp said.

John Oxley remembers his father gathering the family around a tiny radio in his hometown of Tulsa, Okla., to listen to Clem McCarthy’s call of the 1946 Kentucky Derby, where Assault launched his successful quest for the Triple Crown.

Eight years later, Oxley was in Louisville as the gray colt Determine won the spring classic. After methodically building a racing stable throughout his adulthood, Oxley won the second Kentucky Derby he ever entered, as the gray colt Monarchos carried his powder-blue and gold silks to victory.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Dale Romans didn’t know whether to laugh or cry when his close friend Robby Albarado suffered an injury that would keep the jockey from riding J Boys Echo in the 143rd Kentucky Derby next Saturday.

After the injury, Romans was hounded from all sides as to who would replace Albarado. On Wednesday morning at Churchill Downs, he joked, “I’ve been in touch with [Eddie] Delahoussaye to see if he can get ready in time,” referring to the retired Hall of Fame jockey who won the Derby in 1982 and 1983.

Churchill Downs

Track: Fast

Clear

Temp. 65

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – For what figured to be a relatively quiet and uneventful morning, with nary a single Kentucky Derby workout on the schedule, Wednesday’s Oaks-Derby training session produced more than its share of newsworthy developments.

WHO’S HOT

There were no additions from last week to this regarding the 20 members of Derby Watch. Classic Empire remains the favorite, at 5-1, on the Kentucky Derby future line set by Mike Watchmaker, Daily Racing Form’s national handicapper.

So just what is up with Girvin?

For the past week or so, Girvin, the Louisiana Derby winner, has had an unorthodox schedule in preparation for the Kentucky Derby on May 6 at Churchill Downs. Girvin last week was taken from his base at the Churchill Downs Trackside training facility in Louisville to Keeneland in order to train there, the stated reason at the time from trainer Joe Sharp being that the wet weather to hit central Kentucky made training at Keeneland – which also has a synthetic training track – a better option to stay on a regular training schedule.

McCraken

Ghostzapper-Ivory Empress, by Seeking the Gold

(Bred in Kentucky by Janis Whitham)

The Kentucky Derby’s points system, which replaced graded stakes earnings as the method for sorting out contenders, completed its fifth year of prep races this spring.

The system’s half-decade in existence has provided an interesting snapshot of which stallions were most proficient in siring the archetypical Derby prospect – precocious colts who run on the dirt, consistently win or place in points races, and peak in the key Derby preps during the spring of their 3-year-old season.