HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – The scramble for Kentucky Derby eligibility points has brought an eclectic mix of 3-year-olds to Oaklawn Park for the Grade 1, $1 million Arkansas Derby on Saturday. The field of 10 includes horses who last raced at Aqueduct, Gulfstream, Santa Anita, Tampa Bay Downs, and Turfway Park.

LEXINGTON, Ky. – With college basketball and horse racing being as wildly popular as they are here, folks may find delight – along with a touch of irony – in recognizing a tournament-style elimination being a part of the racing game Saturday at Keeneland.

This is the home of the 2012 NCAA champion University of Kentucky, where 3-year-old Thoroughbreds will try earning a berth three weeks hence in a certain race at a certain racetrack that borders the University of Louisville, Kentucky’s arch-rival and the newly crowned 2013 NCAA champion.

Saturday marks the last two 170-point Kentucky Derby preps of the year, although it should be noted that the Grade 1, $1 million Arkansas Derby at Oaklawn Park and Grade 1, $750,000 Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland are not the year’s last races with available Derby points. Next week’s Lexington and the Derby Trial the following week are Derby point races, but they offer only 20 points to the winner. The Arkansas Derby and Blue Grass each offers 100 Derby points to the winner and 40 points to the runner-up, so these races will have a major role in shaping the Kentucky Derby field.

MIAMI - Itsmyluckyday, one of the leading contenders for this year’s Kentucky Derby, breezed an easy half-mile in 48.22 seconds at Calder on Thursday morning. The work was his first since finishing second behind Orb as the favorite in the Grade 1 Florida Derby 12 days earlier.

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

More dominos fell into place Thursday as far as the riding situation is concerned for the Kentucky Derby, as Javier Castellano has chosen to ride Wood Memorial runner-up Normandy Invasion instead of two-time graded stakes winner Revolutionary, and Garrett Gomez was named to ride Vyajck.

WHO'S HOT

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Rudy Rodriguez, trainer of Kentucky Derby contender Vyjack, has been ordered to appear before Kentucky’s state licensing committee next week as a condition of obtaining a license in the state, according to the chairman of the committee.

As an analyst with Goldman Sachs, James Covello spends his days poring over numbers, a discipline that has come in handy lately for another passion, being as Covello is co-owner of Falling Sky, one of the 3-year-olds whose participation in the May 4 Kentucky Derby will depend on two things – how he performs on Saturday in the Arkansas Derby, and where he stands on the overall points list.

[ARKANSAS DERBY: Get Oaklawn PPs, watch video previews]

Longshots have fared particularly well in the Blue Grass Stakes in recent years, with favorites being blanked in the Keeneland showcase every year since Peace Rules won in 2003 for Bobby Frankel. In fact, the four biggest win mutuels in that span came in the last five runnings: Stately Victor ($82.20, the all-time race record, in 2010), Brilliant Speed ($40.20 in 2011), General Quarters ($30.60 in 2009), and Monba ($19.60) in 2008. The first Blue Grass on Polytrack was the 2007 renewal; all prior runnings were on dirt.

STICKNEY, Ill. – The snub of the Illinois Derby from Churchill Downs’s new series of Kentucky Derby qualifying races means the race no longer is a viable option for the established or rising elite in the 3-year-old crop. But with a purse raised from $500,000 to $750,000 this year, the Illinois Derby retains plenty of appeal for horsemen with 3-year-olds who have shown even a glimmer of stakes ability.