Rudy Rodriguez, the leading trainer at Aqueduct and the conditioner of undefeated Kentucky Derby contender Vyjack, will begin serving a 20-day suspension Saturday for two medication positives. Rodriguez was also fined $7,500 by the New York State Gaming Commission.

Rodriguez was penalized for the finding of the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory Flunixin, also known as Banamine, in post race samples taken from Heiden, who won the last race at Aqueduct on April 7, 2012, and Alston Gunter, who finished third in the first race at Aqueduct on Nov. 21.

After his runner-up finish in the Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes last November at Churchill Downs, Frac Daddy was one of the most promising horses in the 3-year-old class of 2013.

Since then, Frac Daddy has had but one race – and a disappointing one at that. Frac Daddy, a gray colt by Scat Daddy, finished a distant sixth in the Jan. 26 Holy Bull at Gulfstream Park and exited the race with a hoof injury. After that, he was found to be suffering from a throat ulcer.

So isn’t trainer Ken McPeek frustrated?

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – At last check, the purse for the Florida Derby is still $1 million and the race is still worth 170 Kentucky Derby qualifying points, including 100 to the winner.

WHO’S HOT

As I watched the one-horse stretch run of the Tampa Bay Derby, I was thinking that Verrazano was the kind of horse that would have been dismissed as a Kentucky Derby contender as recently as six years ago. No horse, without a 2-year-old foundation, would have been taken seriously, no matter how good he looked.

The Derby handicapping game changed for good in 2007 and 2008. Curlin did not make his first start until Feb. 3, 2007. Big Brown started once on the grass as a 2-year-old in September. He did not make his 3-year-old debut until March 5, 2008.

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Super Ninety Nine will have to overcome post 11 on Saturday, when he starts as a strong favorite in the Grade 2, $600,000 Rebel Stakes at Oaklawn Park. He is one of two starters in the 50-point Kentucky Derby qualifying race for trainer Bob Baffert, who also sends out Den’s Legacy.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Mr Palmer, the authoritative winner of last Saturday’s Private Terms Stakes at Laurel, will try to jump on the Triple Crown trail in the Grade 1, $1 million Wood Memorial on April 6, his connections said Wednesday.

“If everything looks good he’ll probably try the Wood,” Leana Willaford, New York-based assistant to trainer Bill Mott, said Wednesday.

Willaford reported that Mr Palmer has emerged from the Private Terms in good order.

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Oxbow fired a bullet Tuesday morning at Oaklawn in his final prep for Saturday’s Grade 2, $600,000 Rebel, which has a potential field of 14 starters. The 1 1/16-mile race is expected to lure shippers from both coasts, including Super Ninety Nine, Delhomme, and Den’s Legacy.

Trainer Keith Desormeaux reported Tuesday that he was informed that the ankle surgery performed the previous day on Ive Struck a Nerve “went about as well as can be expected. The colt came out of it just great and is standing and doing just fine.”

Ive Struck a Nerve suffered a fractured sesamoid in his left front ankle during a Saturday workout at Fair Grounds. Surgery that involved the insertion of one screw was performed in Lexington, Ky., at the Rood and Riddle equine hospital by Dr. Larry Bramlage, the noted equine surgeon.

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - Titletown Five will make his next start in the Grade 3, $800,000 Sunland Derby and is to be ridden by Gary Stevens, trainer D. Wayne Lukas said Tuesday. The 1 1/8-mile prep is March 24.

Titletown Five was one of the most impressive maiden winners of the fall meet at Churchill Downs. He made his 3-year-old debut March 2 at Oaklawn, finishing second in the $60,000 Gazebo. Tuesday morning, the horse breezed five furlongs in 1:01.20 under Quevedo.