Churchill Downs racing officials are expecting perhaps eight or nine starters Saturday night, when the spring meet opens with the Grade 3, $175,000 Derby Trial.

While a full, 20-horse field looks likely for the 139th Kentucky Derby on May 4 at Churchill Downs, just who will obtain those coveted final spots remained in doubt Monday, and likely will remain so through this weekend, when the final race worth points, the $175,000-added Derby Trial, is run.

[bc_video_id:290059:]LOUISVILLE, Ky. – After a hectic Sunday that featured workouts from five likely Kentucky Derby starters, including potential favorite Verrazano, things quieted down a bit Monday morning.

Only one horse presently committed to the race, Oxbow, turned in an official workout during the 15-minute session reserved for Derby and Kentucky Oaks starters, with two other potential starters, both from the barn of trainer Bob Baffert, Power Broker and Code West, also breezing.

CHURCHILL DOWNS  Sunny  Temp. 40  Track Fast

LOUISVILLE -   A busy morning got things rolling on the Kentucky Derby workout watch with five potential starters breezing at Churchill Downs on Sunday,  including Verrazano and Normandy Invasion, the first two finishers from the Grade 1 Wood Memorial, along with Revolutionary and Mylute, the first two across the wire one week earlier in the Grade 2 Louisiana Derby.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Trainer Todd Pletcher said Sunday morning at Churchill Downs that no decision will be made until as late as next weekend as to whether Winning Cause will run in the 139th Kentucky Derby.

Winning Cause became eligible for the May 4 Derby by earning 20 points with his 6-1 victory Saturday under Julien Leparoux in the Coolmore Lexington Stakes at Keeneland.

STICKNEY, Ill. – Departing will not run in the Kentucky Derby, but his win Saturday at Hawthorne in the Illinois Derby suggested he is among the elite members of this year’s 3-year-old crop.

Breaking from post 13 and racing wide around both turns, Departing powered to the lead at the top of the long Hawthorne stretch and scored an impressive 3 1/4-length victory in the Grade 3, $750,000 Illinois Derby.

FAIR HILL, Md. – A visit to the bucolic Fair Hill training center on the Maryland-Delaware border wasn’t originally on the agenda for Vyjack. But if he wins the 139th Kentucky Derby in two weeks, the gelding’s 13-day stay here may prove to be one of the reasons.

Editor’s note: The eighth season of Countdown to the Crown returns as one of the most comprehensive handicapper’s scouting reports of the 3-year-old scene. Posted each Friday at DRF.com from Jan. 4 through the Belmont Stakes, Countdown keeps you apprised of the rising stars of the 3-year-old class from the maiden ranks through the Grade 1 stakes. You can access daily updates, opinions and interactive features at Countdowntothecrown.com as well.

Straight from the gate

LEXINGTON, Ky. – The Coolmore Lexington Stakes is known as a final stop on the road to Churchill Downs, although that’s meant in the context of the Kentucky Derby.

The maxim might well hold true again Saturday, when the Grade 3, $200,000 Lexington is run at Keeneland, but in this case, the 1 1/16-mile Polytrack race could prove a stepping-stone to the Kentucky Oaks and not the Derby.

Class handicappers are unlikely to find River Rocks of interest in Saturday’s Grade 3 Coolmore Lexington Stakes at Keeneland given that the colt has scored his only victories at Calder in a maiden race and at Gulfstream against restricted Florida-bred allowance competition.

Nor will hot-hand horseplayers like that jockey James Graham was 0 for 47 at the meet entering Thursday’s card.