Evidently, the siren call of the Kentucky Derby has become more alluring than ever. The prospective field for the Grade 2, $500,000 Illinois Derby this Saturday is bursting at the seams as the connections of 3-year-olds with even a hint of ability scramble for last-second graded earnings that might secure a Derby berth.

NEW ORLEANS – Russian-immigrant trainer Gennadi Dorochenko goes about his business in an unconventional manner. Morning workouts? Those, Dorochenko – a former jockey – shuns, calling them the province of trainers who want merely to impress owners. What Dorochenko does is race. His horses run far more frequently than those of most American trainers. They run a lot, and they lose a lot. At Fair Grounds this meet, Dorochenko had started 136 horses before Sunday. Six had won.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Working for the first time since his second-place finish in the Palm Beach Stakes, Dullahan breezed five furlongs in 1:02.19 shortly after the first renovation break Sunday at Gulfstream Park.

Dullahan, who missed several days of training as a result of a popped splint bone discovered shortly after the Palm Beach, broke off at the half-mile pole and finished around the turn at the mile pole. He posted splits of 24.94 seconds for the quarter and 49.66 for the half before galloping out six furlongs in 1:15.72.

BOYNTON BEACH, Fla. – Take Charge Indy, Union Rags, and El Padrino all emerged from Saturday’s Florida Derby in good shape, their respective trainers said Sunday morning, and all will be pointed to the May 5 Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs.

Patrick Byrne, trainer of Take Charge Indy, said the Florida Derby winner “looks fresh this morning.”

“He cooled out really quick last night,” Byrne said.

Byrne said Take Charge Indy would leave for Churchill Downs by van April 11, arriving on April 12, and would not have a workout until he gets to Kentucky.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Racing fans were undeterred by Union Rags being defeated Saturday as an odds-on choice in the Florida Derby when settling on the colt as a lukewarm 9-2 favorite in the third and final pool of the 2012 Kentucky Derby Future Wager, which closed 6:30 p.m. Eastern on Sunday after the customary three-day run.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Despite being defeated Saturday as the odds-on favorite in the Florida Derby, Union Rags was the 7-2 favorite heading into the final day of wagering into Pool 3 of the 2012 Kentucky Derby Future Wager.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates - Trainer Aidan O’Brien said he brought 3-year-olds Daddy Long Legs and Wrote to Dubai with the idea that if they ran well in the UAE Derby they would be considered for the Kentucky Derby.

O’Brien and the Coolmore team for which he trains may be Louisville-bound after Daddy Long Legs rolled to a 1 1/4-length victory over the French-bred - and Triple Crown nominee - Yang Tse Kiang in Saturday’s $2 million UAE Derby at Meydan. Wrote finished third, beaten only two lengths.

The next time you get into a car and drive to the nearest Thoroughbred racetrack, think about the ease with which you got there: You put the key in the ignition, navigated traffic, parked, and that was that. Now think about what it takes to get any number of the horses you're watching that day to the same racetrack. Not that easy.

NEW ORLEANS – It’s a fair assumption that only a handful of racing fans were even tuned into the seventh race on Monday, July 12, 2011 at Delaware Park. And it’s also fair to assume that none of them could have imagined the long-range implications of that maiden race on the Kentucky Derby trail this spring.

ARCADIA, Calif. – I’ll Have Another will be one of the most lightly raced horses of 2012 when he starts in the $750,000 Santa Anita Derby at Santa Anita next Saturday.

By design, I’ll Have Another has run once this year, an upset win at 43-1 in the Grade 2 Robert Lewis Stakes here on Feb. 4. Following that race, owner Paul Reddam and trainer Doug O’Neill said the Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby would be I’ll Have Another’s next start.

“Knock on wood, we’ll have a fresh, happy sonofagun,” O’Neill said on Friday. “We’re hoping to have a nice run in May, June, and July.”