There are no marquee names scheduled to run in the Grade 3, $500,000 Spiral Stakes at Turfway Park on Saturday, kind of like how it looked on the eve of the race last year. But, it turned out, that look was an illusion.

The Spiral was won by Animal Kingdom, who was making his stakes debut and had yet to run on dirt. But six weeks later, Animal Kingdom won the Kentucky Derby and followed that with a second-place finish in the Preakness Stakes, performances that helped him secure the Eclipse Award as champion 3-year-old male for 2011.

ARCADIA, Calif. – Drill, the winner of two graded stakes for sprinters but winless in four races around two turns, is bound for the $750,000 Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland on April 14, trainer Bob Baffert said on Wednesday.

The winner of the Grade 2 San Vicente Stakes over seven furlongs at Santa Anita on Feb. 19, Drill will start in the longest race of his career in the Grade 1 Blue Grass, which is run over 1 1/8 miles and is a key prep for the Kentucky Derby on May 5.

WHO’S HOT
There were no changes to the list of 20 horses on this week’s Derby Watch, but there was some adjustment to their rankings. The unbeaten Gemologist, who returned with a sharp allowance victory last week at Gulfstream Park, is now the fifth choice at 10-1 on the Kentucky Derby Future Book line of Mike Watchmaker, Daily Racing Form’s national handicapper, after being 20-1 a week ago.

Doug O’Neill already has a leading candidate for the May 5 Kentucky Derby in I’ll Have Another, winner of the Grade 2 Robert Lewis Stakes last month at Santa Anita. But it never hurts a trainer to have a little backup.

Add Alpha’s name to the list of probable Louisiana Derby starters. Alpha, winner of the Withers Stakes at Aqueduct in his most recent start, had been under consideration for both the Wood Memorial and the Florida Derby in recent weeks, but now seems likely to ship to New Orleans from Florida next week.

“The chances are very good that we’re coming that way,” trainer Kiaran McLaughlin told the Fair Grounds publicity department.

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Trainer Allen Milligan, who has established himself as one of the leading trainers in this region, will be branching out when the Oaklawn Park meet closes next month. Milligan said he will have a division of horses at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky., for the first time in his career, with the group to include the Arkansas Derby-bound Jake Mo.

Shraded Edge, who is being pointed to next month’s Grade 2, $350,000 Oaklawn Park Handicap, and I Am Awesome, who seeks his fourth win at the meet Thursday, also will be part of Milligan’s 12-horse string at Churchill.

Say this for trainer Larry Jones. He knows how to stay busy.

Saturday, Jones saddled 2011 Horse of the Year to an easy victory in the New Orleans Ladies Stakes, her 2012 debut. Monday, Jones hooked his horse trailer up to his pickup and drove from New Orleans to Hot Springs, Ark., where Joyful Victory had finished third on Saturday in the Azeri Stakes. Jones pulled into the barn area, loaded up Joyful Victory, and not long after was headed south again, arriving at Fair Grounds in the evening.

Mark Casse has become arguably the preeminent trainer at Woodbine in Canada, where the main racing surface has been Polytrack since August 2006. With more than 400 wins at Woodbine since 2007, Casse clearly knows how to prepare a horse to win over a synthetic track, and that’s just what he has been busy doing lately with a colt named Stealcase.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Churchill Downs and its broadcasting partners have announced the renewal of the popular Kentucky Derby DreamBet, which wound up being worth $900,000 to its first contestant two years ago.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – An optimistic Ramon Dominguez said Monday he is hoping to miss only a couple of weeks of riding, despite suffering a separation of his collarbone in a spill at Aqueduct on Sunday.

Dominguez met with a specialist Monday in Long Island who sounded optimistic about an expedited return to the saddle.