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.

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Dullahan earned a 98 Beyer Speed Figure for his victory Saturday in the Blue Grass Stakes, the Grade 1 race that highlighted a record-setting day at historic Keeneland.

Trainer Dale Romans said Sunday morning that Dullahan came out of his 1 1/4-length victory over Hansen in good shape and that his newest stable star most likely will have one breeze at his home track, Churchill Downs, on April 28, the Saturday before the colt runs back as one of the top contenders in the 138th Kentucky Derby.

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Bodemeister, Secret Circle, and Sabercat, the first three finishers, respectively, in the Arkansas Derby on Saturday, all came out of the race in good order and will share a plane ride to Kentucky on Monday morning to begin final preparations for the May 5 Kentucky Derby, their respective camps said Sunday morning at Oaklawn Park.

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Though he was the least-experienced horse in the race, the sheer, raw talent of Bodemeister was too much for his rivals on Saturday in the Grade 1, $1 million Arkansas Derby at Oaklawn Park, as Bodemeister romped to a dazzling, 9 1/2-length victory, firmly placing himself among the elite contenders for the Kentucky Derby on May 5 at Churchill Downs.

Secret Circle, like Bodemeister trained by Bob Baffert, held on for second, a neck in front of Sabercat, whose trainer, Steve Asmussen, and jockey, Corey Nakatani, combined for five wins earlier on the card.

LEXINGTON, Ky. - Dullahan stamped himself as one of the favorites for the 138th Kentucky Derby and put himself in the record books by rolling past favored Hansen to win the 88th running of the Grade 1, $750,000 Blue Grass Stakes on a warm Saturday afternoon at Keeneland.

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.

I’ll Have Another, the winner of the Santa Anita Derby last Saturday, has returned to training at Hollywood Park, trainer Doug O’Neill said.

I’ll Have Another was jogged on Wednesday and was galloped on Thursday.

Owned by Paul and Zillah Reddam, I’ll Have Another will remain in Southern California until April 28, and will have his final major workout for the Kentucky Derby on April 27. The Kentucky Derby is May 5.

“He’s so full of himself, showing great energy,” O’Neill said.

LEXINGTON, Ky. – A crush of horses bearing down from his outside would be something brand new for Hansen. As fast as he is, the nearly white colt has grown accustomed to free-wheeling out front, and never in his first five races has he encountered any such difficulty.

ARCADIA, Calif. – Mario Gutierrez was 17 in 2004 and had just finished high school in Veracruz, Mexico, when he announced his grand career plans to his parents. He wanted to move to Mexico City, and become a jockey.

“I said, ‘Let me try it in Mexico City for a year,’ ” he remembers.

A year, his parents said. Give it a year. If you are not successful, come home and head to college, they said.

After a year, Gutierrez was ready to leave Mexico City, but he went north, all the way to Hastings Park in Vancouver, British Columbia, where he became a leading rider.

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Some fans may raise eyebrows when a horse works a sizzling five furlongs just four days before a 1 1/8-mile race, but it must be remembered that Jonathan Sheppard did not make the Hall of Fame by accident.

The 71-year-old Englishman sent out Ever So Lucky for a 57-second drill Tuesday in preparation for the Blue Grass Stakes on Saturday in a move prompted partly by the way Ever So Lucky, an Indian Charlie colt, has played catch-up all winter.