Jockey Kevin Krigger could have stayed in Northern California and ridden a lot more winners than he rode the past year in Southern California. None of those Golden Gate winners would have put the 29-year-old rider on a trail to the Kentucky Derby.

It took Krigger less than one year in Southern California to find a dream mount – four rides on Goldencents produced three wins, including last weekend’s Grade 3 Sham Stakes at Santa Anita. If Goldencents makes it, Krigger will try to win the Kentucky Derby with his first Derby mount.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Trainer Kiaran McLaughlin said that Jerome fourth-place finisher Long River and recent maiden winner Valid are both possible for the Withers.

In his first start against winners, Long River raced inside of horses for a good part of the trip, but only showed modest acceleration when he got in the clear in the stretch.

“He ran well for just breaking his maiden,” McLaughlin said. “His best race he was out in the clear; this race he was opposite.”

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Trainer Nick Zito picked up three more victories over the weekend and may have found himself a potential Kentucky Derby contender or two in the process.

Eton Blue rallied from just off the pace to a half-length victory over stablemate Dyker Beach to win his maiden at second asking in the second division of a one-mile maiden special weight race for 3-year-olds Saturday. Zito came back the following afternoon to capture two more races, with Tuvia’s Force and Tiz Yankee.

Goldencents, the winner of the Grade 3 Sham Stakes at Santa Anita on Saturday, will have “one or two more” starts leading to the Kentucky Derby in May, trainer Doug O’Neill said on Sunday.

O’Neill said a plan will be made on Goldencents’s late winter and spring  season in coming weeks, with the intent of keeping the colt separate as much as possible from three of his other Triple Crown prospects – Avare, He’s Had Enough, and Mudflats.

Vyjack came out of his hard-fought head victory over longshot Siete de Oros in Saturday’s Grade 2 Jerome Stakes in good order, according to trainer Rudy Rodriguez, but the undefeated gelding will likely not run again until the Grade 3, $400,000 Gotham Stakes on March 2 at Aqueduct.

In winning the $200,000 Jerome, Vyjack won for the third time in as many career starts, all coming in a 67-day period.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. - It remains to be seen if Vyjack is a viable candidate for the Kentucky Derby but he did his pass his first test around two turns and first gut check winning Saturday’s Grade 2, $200,00 Jerome Stakes for 3-year-olds at Aqueduct.

ARCADIA, Calif. – Showing the versatility that could make him dangerous on the Kentucky Derby trail this spring, Goldencents won for the third time at his fourth different racetrack, and came from slightly off the pace when capturing the Grade 3, $100,000 Sham Stakes on Saturday at Santa Anita, a performance that puts his trainer, Doug O’Neill, back in the Derby spotlight.

O’Neill won the Derby and Preakness last year with I’ll Have Another, an experience he said provided the confidence that he and his team could win America’s most-coveted race.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Regardless of how Notacatbutallama fared in Saturday’s Grade 2, $200,000 Jerome Stakes at Aqueduct, trainer Todd Pletcher already has at least one runner pointed to next month’s Grade 3, $200,000 Withers Stakes at Aqueduct.

Revolutionary, an 8 1/2-length maiden winner here Dec. 28, will remain in New York for the winter and be pointed to the Withers on Feb. 2, Pletcher said.

Trainer Mark Casse said he is in the process of determining where his standout 3-year-old Uncaptured will make his first start of the year after having to scrap the initial plan of running the colt in the Feb. 2 Sam F. Davis Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs.

Uncaptured, one of as many as four hopefuls for the May 4 Kentucky Derby for Casse, won five stakes at 2, ending with the Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes at Churchill Downs. An Ontario-bred owned by John Oxley, Uncaptured is currently stabled in Ocala, Fla.

Countdown to the Crown returns for its eighth season 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