There is no horse racing allowed in New York this Sunday, which is Palm Sunday in the Christian world, because of laws dating back to 1695.

No, really. It’s not an April Fool’s gag. The law reads, in the original: “Be it therefore enacted that there shall be no traveling, servile laboring and working, shooting, fishing, sporting, playing, horse racing, hunting, or frequenting of tippling houses, or the use of any other unlawful exercises or pastimes, by any of the inhabitants or sojourners within this province, or by any of their slaves or servants, on the Lord’s day.”

Rousing Sermon, the champion 2-year-old California-bred male of 2011, needs a strong result in Sunday’s $1 million Louisiana Derby at Fair Grounds to justify a start in the Kentucky Derby on May 5.

That’s the approach owners Larry and Marianne Williams are taking, according to their racing manager, Dan Kiser.

Going into the weekend, Rousing Sermon has $170,000 in graded stakes earnings, a sum that ranked him among the top 20 3-year-olds in the nation. The top 20 3-year-olds, ranked by graded stakes earnings, gain berths for the Kentucky Derby.

Editor’s Note: Countdown to the Crown returns for a seventh season online as one of the most comprehensive handicapper’s scouting reports of the 3-year-old scene. Posted each Friday at DRF.com from Jan. 6 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 and interactive features at Countdowntothecrown.com as well.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – From week to week, Alpha seemingly had a different destination. At one point, he was headed to the Louisiana Derby. Then the Florida Derby was in play.

With the dust finally settled, Alpha will run in the spot trainer Kiaran McLaughlin circled long ago on his calendar: the $1 million Wood Memorial at Aqueduct on April 7.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – The barn of Todd Pletcher at the Palm Meadows training center is just a few rows from that of Michael Matz, and every morning, watching the Matz-trained Union Rags on the track, Pletcher has been reminded of the challenge he faces on Saturday in the Grade 1, $1 million Florida Derby at Gulfstream Park.

ARCADIA, Calif. – Bodemeister, the runner-up in the San Felipe Stakes on March 10, will make his next start in the $1 million Arkansas Derby at Oaklawn Park on April 14, Jimmy Barnes, trainer Bob Baffert’s assistant said on Thursday.

Bodemeister was being considered for the Arkansas Derby or the $750,000 Santa Anita Derby on April 7 before the decision was made to send the colt to Oaklawn Park. In recent days, Barnes has been in regular contact with Baffert, who is in Dubai for Saturday’s Dubai World Cup.

Ever get the feeling you took a wrong turn? Backed the wrong horse?

Perhaps then, you will relate to apprehension regarding the 2012 Kentucky Derby Future Wager. Something this year is very odd.

The third and final pool for the 2012 Derby closes Sunday at 6:30 p.m. Eastern, and this handicapper’s ticket will be the same as the first two pools – No. 24, “all others.”

If the season continues on its surprisingly predictable path, the ticket will be a loser.

Thoroughbred racing badly needs a 3-year-old star.

The sport’s popularity – as everybody knows – has been declining for years. Racing gets minimal attention on network television, and it has disappeared from most sports pages during most of the year.

As March turns to April, our analysts answer 10 questions about the top contenders and key Kentucky Derby prep races so far.

NEW ORLEANS – Finnegans Wake likes to gawk. The rawboned 3-year-old shipped from trainer Dale Romans’s base at the Palm Meadows training center in Florida to Fair Grounds on March 21. It was not until Wednesday morning during a routine gallop that he seemed to have really gotten used to the place.

“He’s a horse that really needs to get acclimated into his surroundings,” said Tammy Fox, the former jockey who is Romans’s longtime partner and a regular work rider for the stable. “He looks around a lot. He’s like a kid. Today was the first day he was really focused out there.”