Rodney Prescott has ridden 3,237 winners in his 22-year career. He rode 340 winners in 2005, finishing second among all North American riders that year to Hall-of-Famer Russell Baze, and he has long been highly regarded by his peers. He was selected as one of five finalists for the 2013 George Woolf Memorial Award, won by Mario Pino.

In a career with many highs, one of the few things the 41-year-old Prescott hasn’t done is win a graded stakes race. According to Daily Racing Form statistics, he is 0 for 9 in such races, with his best finishes being a pair of thirds.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Gulfstream Park racing officials are hoping to get a sizable field for the March 28 Florida Derby, although it looks like Upstart and two Todd Pletcher horses will tower over an otherwise undistinguished group of 3-year-olds.

Gulfstream vice president of racing P.J. Campo said he is looking for at least eight horses, and “hopefully a couple more,” to run in the Grade 1, $1 million Florida Derby, which helps kick off the final round of Kentucky Derby preps worth 100 eligibility points to the winner.

Texas Red has been declared off the Kentucky Derby trail because of a lingering issue with a foot abscess, trainer Keith Desormeaux said Tuesday from Santa Anita in Arcadia, Calif.

It’s getting close to Louisiana Derby Day, and INTERNATIONAL STAR is headed back to New Orleans to try and sweep the 3-year-old dirt-route stakes series this winter, so despite the fact he’s been based all along in Florida, we’ll add him to this list.

One only has to think back to this past Saturday to find the last California shipper to win Oaklawn’s Rebel Stakes, a race champion American Pharoah dominated in the slop. But to recall the last California invader to win the Spiral at Turfway Park requires a much longer memory or an expansive Internet search.

Not since 2000 – when President Bill Clinton was still in the White House – has a California shipper won the Spiral. That year, Globalize scored for Jerry Hollendorfer.

Rain and slop replaced cold and snow as training obstacles for 3-year-olds based in New York as they begin preparations for the Wood Memorial. But horses were just getting back to their routine after a few off days following the Gotham anyway.

WONDER GAL, third in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies, snuck her way into the entries, as she will run Friday in a New York-bred first-level allowance sprint as a prep for the Gazelle.

Top 3-year-old colts and geldings in New York

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – In the aftermath of champion American Pharoah starting his 3-year-old season Saturday with a 6 1/4-length win in the Rebel Stakes at Oaklawn, trainer Bob Baffert said he was pleased with how the race developed for the comebacking American Pharoah and how the horse emerged from the Rebel.

American Pharoah was making his first start since a Sept. 27 win in the Grade 1 FrontRunner. He set a controlled pace before pulling clear in the Rebel, covering the 1 1/16 miles on a sloppy track in 1:45.78.

Champion AMERICAN PHAROAH invaded from Southern California for the Grade 2, $750,000 Rebel on Saturday and was a 6 ¼- length winner over South Florida shipper MADEFROMLUCKY. Both horses are under consideration for a return trip to Oaklawn for the Grade 1, $1 million Arkansas Derby on April 11.

AMERICAN PHAROAH re-emerged as California’s leading Kentucky Derby hope after his March 14 romp in the Rebel Stakes at Oaklawn.

A group of 15 3-year-olds were entered Sunday for Saturday’s Grade 3, $550,000 Spiral Stakes at Turfway Park, resulting in three exclusions due to the track’s 12-horse starting-gate limit, and Turfway not having an also-eligible list for its signature race.

Although entries closed Sunday, Spiral post positions will not be drawn until approximately 12:45 p.m. on Wednesday, when a draw luncheon is hosted at the Horseshoe Casino of Cincinnati, which sponsors the Spiral.

Caesars Entertainment, with Horseshoe Casino being one of its entities, is part owner in Turfway Park.