WHO’S HOT

With the point values of Kentucky Derby preps having risen fivefold last weekend, there figured to be wholesale changes coming out of the Fountain of Youth and Risen Star stakes, and there were, with five newcomers to the Derby Watch top 20: Wildcat Red , General a Rod, Intense Holiday, Albano, and Constitution.

Mike Watchmaker, Daily Racing Form ’s national handicapper, has both Wildcat Red and General a Rod at 15-1 on his future line. Constitution debuts on the list at 20-1, with Intense Holiday at 25-1 and Albano at 30-1.

NBC has reached a 10-year extension with Churchill Downs on the broadcast rights to the Kentucky Derby through 2025, the principals announced Wednesday.

The extension includes the broadcast rights to the Kentucky Oaks along with other programming on the days of the Oaks and Derby, the companies said in a joint release. Those rights will extend to NBC’s family of networks and its supporting websites, including the rights to live streaming.

Rise Up might make his next start in the Louisiana Derby, trainer Tom Amoss said, despite finishing seventh in the Risen Star, his first start since a comfortable win in the Nov. 23 Delta Downs Jackpot.

“I’m in a tough position because he’s a three-time winner and there are no allowance races for him right now,” Amoss said.

[ROAD TO THE KENTUCKY DERBY: Prep races, point standings, replays]

BOYNTON BEACH, Fla. – Havana, runner-up in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile at Santa Anita in November, completed his major preparation for his 3-year-old debut Sunday by breezing an easy five furlongs in 1:00.90 at Palm Meadows. Havana will return to the races in the Grade 3, $150,000 Swale Stakes for 3-year-olds at seven furlongs at Gulfstream Park on Saturday.

Havana, a son of Dunkirk, showed good energy on the gallop-out Sunday.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Some of the nation’s promising 3-year-olds raced at Gulfstream Park Saturday and put on an exciting show. Wildcat Red won a dramatic head-and-head stretch duel to beat General a Rod in the Fountain of Youth Stakes. Constitution, who may be trainer Todd Pletcher’s best 3-year-old, ran away from a strong field in an allowance race. They all established their credentials as Kentucky Derby contenders. Or did they?

Two major preps for the Kentucky Derby, the Florida Derby at Gulfstream Park on March 29 and the Santa Anita Derby at Santa Anita Park on April 5, will be broadcast live on NBC Sports, an official of the parent company of the two tracks confirmed on Tuesday.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Honor Code took another step toward his much-anticipated 3-year-old debut when working an easy half-mile in 52.23 seconds Tuesday morning at Gulfstream Park.

Honor Code was pretty much just coasting from the half-mile pole to the wire, posting an early split of 26.17 while well in hand throughout. He then picked up the pace noticeably under some mild coaxing into the turn, completing five-eighths in 1:04.78 before galloping out six furlongs in 1:17.95 and pulling up seven-eighths in 1:31.46.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Seven new names are in the 23-horse lineup for Pool 3 of the 2014 Kentucky Derby Future Wager, which opens Thursday at noon Eastern for a three-day run.

Churchill Downs linemaker Mike Battaglia has listed the mutuel field, the 24th or “all others” option, as a lukewarm 6-1 morning-line favorite for Pool 3, followed by Cairo Prince (8-1), Top Billing (8-1), Honor Code (10-1), and Shared Belief (12-1).

The new horses in the pool are Albano, Bayern, Constitution, General a Rod, Kobe’s Back, Tamarando, and Wildcat Red.

Grade 2, $400,000 Risen Star Stakes, 1 1/16  miles, Fair Grounds, Feb. 22
(50 Derby eligibility points to the winner, 20 for second, 10 for third, 5 for fourth)

After three straight third- or fourth-place finishes in Grade 2 stakes against the likes of Cairo Prince and Honor Code at Gulfstream Park and Aqueduct, Intense Holiday apparently got the class relief he needed here.

Intense Holiday wasted no time heading back to trainer Todd Pletcher’s base at the Palm Meadows Training Center in south Florida, leaving Fair Grounds on a Sunday-morning flight that departed well before dawn. By noon, the narrow winner of the Risen Star Stakes was bedded down in his regular stall, looking no worse for travel and racing, and Pletcher confirmed that Intense Holiday probably will be back at Fair Grounds for the Grade 2, $1 million Louisiana Derby on March 29.