HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Aside from all the good-looking 3-year-old prospects trainer Todd Pletcher has already unleashed here during the opening month of the Gulfstream Park meet he also has two others waiting in the wings, Gemologist and Overdriven, who have combined to win all five of their starts.

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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. – New York’s road to the Triple Crown has been the one least traveled in recent years, but with more lucrative purses and an additional graded stakes opportunity, perhaps that will change in 2012.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Ever So Lucky is one of the more exciting prospects in the class of 2012. But trainer Jonathan Sheppard is in no rush to put his star back into serious training just yet.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. –  Trainer Augustin Bezara started 60 percent of his five-horse stable Sunday, all three of whom won including Reveron in the inaugural $100,000 Gulfstream Park Derby.

Bezara was a leading trainer in his native Venezuela prior to coming to the United States two years ago. He’d already won the third race with Mommy’s Image and the fifth with Sweetlandofliberty before sending out Reveron to make his stakes debut in the first derby of the New Year in the United States.

When I talked to Michael Matz after the 2-year-old stakes on Thanksgiving weekend, he said he would not trade. Have to imagine his reaction would be the same after watching last Saturday's CashCall Futurity.

Since the Breeders' Cup, no 2-year-old has emerged to take the 2012 Kentucky Derby winter book favoritism away from Union Rags, trained by Matz. Only Hansen has been able to beat Union Rags on the track. A few horses ran faster Beyer Speed Figures, but none really proved anything.

[bc_playlist_id:241579:]Follow Triple Crown contenders' road to the Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes, and Belmont Stakes with prep race replays, charts, Beyer Speed Figures, and more.

The news that Strike the Gold was euthanized after falling and fracturing a leg this week was sad enough to cast at least a brief shadow over any racing fan’s holiday spirit. He was an admirable little horse, possessed of a grinding finish that earned him victories in the 1991 Kentucky Derby and the 1992 Pimlico Special, along with placings in seven major stakes and earning of $3.4 million. Sometimes he got there, sometimes he didn’t, but he always showed up.

Four also-eligibles will be able to draw into the field for the Kentucky Derby for the first time in 2012 under a new policy announced Friday by Churchill Downs.

The policy, which also will apply to the Kentucky Oaks, will allow as many as four horses to draw into the Derby in the event of any scratches prior to 9 a.m. the day before the race. The also-eligibles will be ranked in preference by career graded stakes earnings, under the same system that is used to determine the 20-horse Derby field.

The date was 11-11-11, and the blogs were abuzz in the wake of Ever So Lucky’s maiden voyage at Churchill Downs [Watch Replay]. Why not? A $600,000 sale-topper last May, sired by Uncle Mo’s papa Indian Charlie and trained by a Hall of Famer, the colt made short work of a 6 1/2-furlong event as if it were nothing more than a walk in the park. [UPDATE: Indian Charlie dies at age 16]