STICKNEY, Ill. – The race disappeared from the schedule last year, but Todd Pletcher didn’t forget about the Illinois Derby.

Pletcher, always looking for spots to run his annual legion of talented early-season 3-year-olds, has been a steady participant in the Illinois Derby and has won it four times since 2001 with Distilled, Pollard’s Vision, Cowtown Cat, and Joe Vann.

For lack of purse money, the race was scrapped in 2016, but it is back on the calendar Saturday at Hawthorne – and so is Pletcher.

McCraken, one of the favorites for the 143rd Kentucky Derby, will have two more breezes prior to the May 6 race after putting in a nice bit of work Tuesday over a fast Churchill track.

With regular rider Brian Hernandez Jr. aboard, McCraken was timed in 47.80 seconds by Churchill clocker John Nichols, with gallop-out times of 1:00 and 1:13.40.

“He’s right back here at home at Churchill, where he likes it, so we’re excited for him,” said Hernandez.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Trainer Lynn Whiting, who reached the pinnacle of his profession by saddling Lil E. Tee to win the 1992 Kentucky Derby, died suddenly Wednesday morning from complications of a long-term illness and a recent stroke. He was 77.

A family friend said Whiting was unresponsive in his Louisville home after a fellow trainer had driven there to pick him up for work before dawn Wednesday. No further information was immediately available.

Beginning on Sept. 17 and lasting nearly seven months through last Saturday, there were 34 races in the United States and one in Dubai in which horses could earn points toward a berth in the Kentucky Derby on May 6 at Churchill Downs.

And now that they’ve all been run, the prospective 20-horse field has taken shape, though there are still several runners outside the top 20 whose connections want to get into the race.

Girvin

Tale of Ekati-Catch the Moon, by Malibu Moon

(Bred in Kentucky by Bob Austin and John White; $130,000 purchase at Fasig-Tipton Kentucky fall yearling sale by Grand Oaks)

WHO’S HOT

Grade 3, $200,000 Lexington Stakes; 1 1/16 miles; Keeneland; April 15, 2017
(10 Derby qualifying points for a win, 4 for second, 2 for third, 1 for fourth)

Winner: Senior Investment, by Discreetly Mine
Trainer: Kenny McPeek
Jockey: Channing Hill
Owner: Fern Circle Stables
Beyer Speed Figure: 89

Mark Casse is not Canadian. It only looks that way.

It looks that way because he is a member of the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame, having been inducted in 2016. He has been Woodbine’s leading trainer 11 times, trained four horses to be Canadian Horse of the Year, and just last week received his ninth consecutive Sovereign Award as Canada’s outstanding trainer.

Tom and Sandy McKenna, the owners of Conquest Mo Money, announced on Tuesday that they will not put up a $200,000 supplementary fee to run Conquest Mo Money in the Kentucky Derby on May 6 and will instead await the Preakness Stakes two weeks later. The supplementary fee for the Preakness is $150,000, which also makes the horse eligible for the Belmont Stakes.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – McCraken, one of the favorites for the 143rd Kentucky Derby, had his first breeze since incurring his first career defeat in the Blue Grass Stakes, working a sharp half-mile early Tuesday over a fast track at Churchill Downs.

With regular rider Brian Hernandez Jr. aboard, McCraken was timed in 47.80 seconds by Churchill clocker John Nichols, with out times of 1:00 for five furlongs and 1:13.40 for six furlongs.