Creative Cause moved closer to a start in the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs with a five-furlong workout at Hollywood Park on Tuesday.

Creative Cause, who won the Grade 2 San Felipe Stakes in March and was second to I’ll Have Another in the Santa Anita Derby on April 7, worked five furlongs in 1:01.20.

“The track might be a little bit slow today,” trainer Mike Harrington said. “He didn’t need to do any more than he did.”

LEXINGTON, Ky. – The Coolmore Lexington Stakes might produce a starter for the Kentucky Derby after all. Bob Baffert has decided to run Castaway in the Grade 3, $200,000 Lexington on Saturday at Keeneland, and a victory would give the colt enough graded earnings to run back in the Derby if his connections so wished.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Though Alpha, the Wood Memorial runner-up, did not ship to Churchill Downs as originally scheduled on Monday, his connections remain optimistic the multiple stakes winner can still make the Kentucky Derby on May 5.

Bodemeister has come a long ways in his short career, from an unstarted maiden a little more than three months ago to the possible favorite for the Kentucky Derby following his overpowering victory in the Arkansas Derby on Saturday.

Bodemeister needed a big payday on Saturday, and he got it, banking $600,000 to take away any worry about him making the field because of insufficient earnings. He had just $60,000 going into the race.

LEXINGTON, Ky. – The respective second- and third-place finishes in the Blue Grass Stakes on Saturday by Hansen and Gung Ho (31-1) added to an impressive recent record that trainer Mike Maker has compiled in the Keeneland showcase, particularly with longshots. Maker won the Blue Grass in 2010 with Stately Victor (40-1) and was beaten just a nose last year with Twinspired (24-1).

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Keeneland racing officials are looking for a field of perhaps 10 3-year-olds to run Saturday in the Coolmore Lexington Stakes, but with the apparent defection of Reveron, none of those horses has a realistic chance to make the Kentucky Derby field.

Mike Smith, who rode Bodemeister for the first time in winning the Arkansas Derby on Saturday, will retain the mount for the Kentucky Derby, trainer Bob Baffert said Sunday.

In another Derby riding development, Garrett Gomez will ride Daddy Nose Best, the winner of the Sunland Derby.

The next major decision will be that of Ramon Dominguez, who has been riding both Hansen and Alpha.
 

Barring late defections, this year’s Kentucky Derby will feature the top stars of the 3-year-old crop. Among them:

◗ Bodemeister, an Under the Radar selection following a scintillating maiden victory, who figures to take heavy betting action following a huge win in the Grade 1 Arkansas Derby.

◗ Gemologist, trained by Todd Pletcher who is undefeated after a professional performance in the Grade 1 Wood Memorial.

LEXINGTON, Ky.  -- Union Rags, the third-place finisher in the Florida Derby and a leading contender for the Kentucky Derby, arrived at Keeneland on Sunday morning after a long van ride from the Palm Meadows training center in Florida.

Michael Matz, the colt’s trainer, said that Union Rags arrived at his barn at Keeneland at 4:30 a.m. after an 18-hour trip and settled in “without a problem at all.”

BOYNTON BEACH, Fla. -   El Padrino, whose Kentucky Derby status remains in limbo, worked four furlongs in 49.01 seconds in company with 2011 Travers winner Stay Thirsty on Sunday morning at Palm Meadows. The work was the first for El Padrino since his fourth-place finish in the Grade 1 Florida Derby 15 days ago.