The central question of the 2016 Kentucky Derby is whether Nyquist is simply better than his 19 opponents or a vulnerable favorite in a subpar year.

The training charts hang on barn walls, whiteboard wiped clean and rewritten late each morning, and sit in desk drawers, written into ledger books ink-smudged or pristine. The charts record past exercise and sketch the future – the walks, jogs, gallops, and breezes that lead to races.

This is the work of every trainer with any old horse. Now imagine the horseman with handsome bluebloods coming through the pipeline each season. Just how good is the animal whose name is written on the board? How far can he run? How much can his mind absorb? How far will his body bend? 

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Mike Repole had a big smile on his face as he greeted well-wishers and talked with reporters Wednesday morning on the Churchill Downs backstretch. It was a far cry from five years ago, when Repole was avoiding media on the backstretch before a formal press conference was held the day before the 2011 Kentucky Derby to announce the scratch of Uncle Mo, the Repole-owned morning-line favorite.

Repole has spent the better part of the last month talking about Uncle Mo, who in his first crop has sired three Kentucky Derby starters, including Repole’s own Outwork.

CHURCHILL DOWNS

Weather: Cloudy

Track: Fast

Temp.: 55

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Cooler weather had just about everyone on their toes during Wednesday’s Kentucky Derby/Oaks training session, although the star of the show, the undefeated Nyquist, had long left the stage by the time the majority of his competition in Saturday’s Derby came out to train following the renovation break at 8:30 a.m.

Churchill Downs has not authorized Television Games Network to broadcast the track’s races live on its flagship network or on TVG’s website for this year’s spring meet, an official for TVG said on Wednesday.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – With starters 44 and 45 in this year’s Kentucky Derby, trainer Todd Pletcher is edging ever closer to the record held by D. Wayne Lukas, under whom Pletcher apprenticed before beginning his own decorated career.

Pletcher has won a record-setting seven Eclipse Awards as champion trainer, while Lukas has amassed four. At the Derby, though, Lukas – who does not have a horse in this year’s race – owns four wins from his record 48 starters, while Pletcher has one, with Super Saver in 2010.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Basking in the glory of winning the Spiral Stakes at Turfway Park on April 2, owner Ken Ramsey announced a proposal to anyone willing to front a $200,000 supplemental fee to make the colt eligible to the Triple Crown: Do so, and he would split with his potential partner whatever Oscar Nominated earned in the series of races.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Trainer Mark Casse decided Wednesday not to enter Fellowship in Saturday’s Kentucky Derby, where he would have been the first horse on the also-eligible list, and instead will run him that same afternoon in the Pat Day Mile.

By rule in Kentucky, no horse can be entered in two different races on the same card. Fellowship has been sitting 21st on the Kentucky Derby points list for the past two weeks, which meant he needed one defection out of the top 20 to get into the race. A defection never came by the time entries closed for the Derby late Wednesday morning.

The list of objects banned from Churchill Downs on Kentucky Derby Day includes coolers, cans, glass bottles, laptops, tripods, selfie sticks, grills, alcohol, backpacks, luggage, wagons, umbrellas, weapons, fireworks, air horns, laser pointers, mace, pepper spray, drones, hoverboards, and animals, with the exception of service animals for patrons with disabilities. Cash is okay.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Spring is the season of rebirth, and never has that been more so for trainer Steve Asmussen.

His professional trials that began two years ago are well known – accusations by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, subsequent investigations by racing commissions in Kentucky and New York, removal from the ballot for the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame, and a call from the head of The Jockey Club to stay away from Churchill Downs the week of the 2014 Kentucky Derby and Oaks.