ARCADIA, Calif. – Kaleem Shah is a student of racing. He studies pedigrees. He studies the history.

So, even though his colt Dortmund already had earned enough points to run in the Kentucky Derby prior to the Santa Anita Derby on Saturday, what Shah wanted as much as anything – the $600,000 winner’s share, confirmation that he has the best 3-year-old racing in California – was for Dortmund to keep his unbeaten record intact heading into the Kentucky Derby.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Trainer Kiaran McLaughlin pulled out all the stops when it came to preparing Frosted for Saturday’s Grade 1 Wood Memorial at Aqueduct, and now his next stop will be Churchill Downs on the first Saturday in May.

Frosted, who inexplicably flopped in the Grade 2 Fountain of Youth at Gulfstream Park in February, rebounded in a big way Saturday, rallying from off the pace while wide to win the $1 million Wood Memorial by two lengths over longshot Tencendur.

LEXINGTON, Ky. – All the pieces are in place. Carpe Diem completed the abbreviated racing schedule mapped out for him by trainer Todd Pletcher in a dominating victory Saturday at Keeneland in the Blue Grass Stakes and now heads to the 141st Kentucky Derby as one of the favorites.

Getting a perfect trip under John Velazquez, Carpe Diem won the Grade 1, $1 million Blue Grass by three lengths as a prohibitive favorite in a field of eight 3-year-olds, finishing the 1 1/8-mile distance in 1:49.77 over a fast track. He paid $2.80 with his fourth victory from five career starts.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Dubai Sky, the winner of the Grade 3 Spiral Stakes at Turfway Park on March 21, fractured a cannon bone in a hind leg while galloping Saturday morning at Churchill Downs and is off the Triple Crown trail, trainer Bill Mott said Saturday.

Mott said Dubai Sky underwent surgery Saturday and will miss the remainder of his 3-year-old season.

“He’s out for the rest of the year,” Mott said at Aqueduct, where he was to run Tiz Shea D in the $1 million Wood Memorial. “Dr. Larry Bramlage did surgery already. He’s in recovery.”

At the time, it wasn’t the saddest thing in the world. A horse on the road. An empty stall.

“You going to put one in there while he’s gone?” a visitor asked, not even halfway serious.

“No way,” Art Sherman replied. “I’m superstitious, and that would be nothing but bad luck.”

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – John Terranova was surprised though hardly upset that his multiple graded stakes winner El Kabeir was made the third choice on the morning line behind Daredevil and Frosted for Saturday’s Grade 1, $1 million Wood Memorial at Aqueduct.

“I figured Daredevil would be the favorite and we’d be second choice,” Terranova said. “No big deal. It doesn’t mean anything to me.”

ARCADIA, Calif. – He stands more than 17 hands tall and weighs almost 1,200 pounds. In every way, Dortmund has towered over his rivals in Santa Anita’s Kentucky Derby preps this winter and spring. His physical presence is imposing, as is his perfect race record. And now that he gets to stretch out to 1 1/8 miles Saturday in the Grade 1, $1 million Santa Anita Derby, his advantage could be more pronounced.

“I think it’s going to be so much better for him,” said his trainer, Bob Baffert. “He’s tall, lanky, light-barreled, with that long stride.”

Carpe Diem
Giant’s Causeway – Rebridled Dreams, by Unbridled’s Song
(Bred in Kentucky by Coffee Pot Stable; $1.6 million purchase by Stonestreet Stables at 2014 OBS March sale of 2-year-olds in training)

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Todd Pletcher may have lost one top contender for Saturday’s Grade 1 Wood Memorial at Aqueduct when Far From Over got hurt, but he still has another big chance to win the $1 million race with Daredevil.

Daredevil, last year’s Grade 1 Champagne Stakes winner, was one of seven 3-year-olds entered Wednesday for the Wood Memorial, the last of four races for 3-year-olds hosted by Aqueduct on the road to the May 2 Kentucky Derby.

ARCADIA, Calif. – The first time Cliff Sise Jr. sat on a horse, it flipped over on him. Sise was 6. The horse was a Shetland pony. The second time Sise sat on a horse, in a neighbor’s backyard one year later, he rode right into a clothesline and was knocked off.