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.

Lost in the shadow of leading Kentucky Derby contender Verrazano’s popular triumph in the Grade 2 Tampa Bay Derby was the breakout performance from runner-up Java’s War, an early-May foal who could prove a late-bloomer on the Kentucky Derby trail. To be sure, Java’s War faced several obstacles in the Tampa Bay Derby. Not only did he challenge the imposing Verrazano, but he was asked to travel 1 1/16 miles in his first race following a 3 1/2-month layoff and was compromised by a poor start that left him far behind the field entering the first turn.

Last Saturday brought two more qualifying stakes events in the Kentucky Derby Championship Series as the Triple Crown prep season continued to unfold.

ARCADIA, Calif. – While Verrazano on Saturday was reconfirming his position as the ante-post favorite for the May 4 Kentucky Derby with his easy victory in the Tampa Bay Derby, the depth chart on the West Coast took on a new look as Hear the Ghost upset the previously unbeaten Flashback and highly regarded Goldencents in the San Felipe Stakes here at Santa Anita.

Verrazano, who ran his unbeaten record to three in the Tampa Bay Derby and remains the favorite for the May 4 Kentucky Derby, is being pointed to the Wood Memorial on April 6 at Aqueduct for his final Derby prep, trainer Todd Pletcher said Monday morning.

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

Ive Struck a Nerve, the 135-1 winner of the Risen Star Stakes last month at Fair Grounds, was scheduled to undergo surgery Monday at the Rood and Riddle equine hospital in Lexington, Ky., after suffering a fractured sesamoid in his left front ankle during a Saturday morning workout at the New Orleans track. The colt is expected to be sidelined for perhaps six months and will miss the Triple Crown series.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. -  Despite winning three graded stakes and four races overall on Saturday, trainer Todd Pletcher is not about to rest on his laurels. In fact Pletcher barely got any rest at all, sending out his first set of workers including Florida Derby candidate Shanghai Bobby well before dawn Sunday morning at Palm Meadows after returning home from Tampa late the previous evening following Verrazano’s impressive victory in the Grade 2 Tampa Bay Derby.

ARCADIA, Calif. – Hear the Ghost, who successfully stretched out around two turns when winning the Grade 2, $300,000 San Felipe Stakes on Saturday here at Santa Anita, came out of the race in good condition and is likely to make his next start in the Grade 1, $750,000 Santa Anita Derby on April 6, his trainer and co-owner, Jerry Hollendorfer, said Sunday morning.

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

OLDSMAR, Fla. – The margin was only three lengths. As if that matters.

Verrazano overcame adversity Saturday at Tampa Bay Downs, where the unbeaten colt affirmed his status as a leading Kentucky Derby contender with a solid, three-length victory in the Grade 2, 1 1/16-mile Tampa Bay Derby.