LOUISVILLE, Ky. – There will likely be more than 150,000 people in attendance at Churchill Downs on Kentucky Derby Day, but it shouldn’t be hard to spot Wildcat Red’s co-owner Salvador Delfino, even amongst a crowd of that magnitude.

ELMONT, N.Y. – Wicked Strong, Samraat, and Uncle Sigh – the first, second, and fifth finishers in the Grade 1 Wood Memorial – all put in their last major workouts Friday in New York for the $2 million Kentucky Derby on May 3 at Churchill Downs.

ARCADIA, Calif. – The donkeys. He would only ride the donkeys around his father’s goat farm because the horses were terrifying. But the donkeys, they were okay.

Then one day, he remembers he was probably 7, he summoned enough courage to climb atop one of the farm ponies.

ELMONT, N.Y. – It has been eight months since Jose Espinoza was thrown from his mount, Heading to Toga, a few yards past the finish line on Alabama Day at Saratoga.

[bc_video_id:322279:]LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The fillies took center stage during the Oaks/Derby training session at Churchill Downs on Thursday, with the only four workouts during that period turned in by horses currently pointing to next Friday’s Kentucky Oaks.

If it is late April, it is the time of year when rank longshots and abject no-hopers come out of the woodwork to clutter the Kentucky Derby field with their unreasonable dreams. No need to point fingers. They know who they are. As long as there are 20 stalls available in the two starting gates at Churchill Downs on Derby Day, there will be horses involved who will be lucky to make the course, let alone have a shot at a piece of the prize.

Blame it on the Bird.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – With a slew of final prerace workouts still to come, all was quiet on the Kentucky Derby front Thursday at Churchill Downs, where overnight rain into Friday morning was expected to keep local activity light until Saturday.

CYPRESS, Calif. – California Chrome jogged and galloped nearly two miles and was schooled in the starting gate at Los Alamitos on Thursday.

During a 15-minute span in which he had the track to himself, California Chrome was jogged to the gate, where he stood briefly. Trainer Art Sherman said California Chrome has been schooled in the starting gate two or three times a week since his win in the Santa Anita Derby on April 5.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Stewart Elliott had no great expectations about coming back to Kentucky. He’d probably get to ride a few, enjoy the sights of springtime and the festive crowds, sign some memorabilia, and maybe even bask in the nostalgia of his career pinnacle.

“Sure doesn’t seem like 10 years,” said Elliott.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The folks who were here in 1875 probably wouldn’t recognize Churchill Downs anymore. Not only were their beloved Twin Spires dwarfed by a massive remodeling almost 10 years ago, but lights have been installed, including some on the inner perimeter of a turf course, no less.