ARCADIA, Calif. – California-based Baeza is not in the Kentucky Derby field yet, but he is getting close. Saturday morning at Santa Anita, trainer John Shirreffs outlined plans to train Baeza toward the Run for the Roses.

Baeza earned 37.5 Derby points finishing second to Journalism on April 5 in the five-runner Santa Anita Derby. It’s not enough to make the Kentucky Derby field. At least not yet. As of April 12, Baeza ranks 24th on the Derby points list. Only 20 can start. Shirreffs prefers not shipping to Kentucky if Baeza is on the also-eligible list.

Led by Louisiana Derby winner Tiztastic at Churchill Downs, four Kentucky Derby hopefuls turned in breezes around Kentucky on Saturday morning, with three weeks until their big engagement.

The rescheduled Blue Grass Stakes card at Keeneland Racecourse in Lexington on Tuesday drew $20.38 million in bets, an incredibly strong showing for a Tuesday but down 30.4 percent compared to handle last year on the card, which was held on a Saturday, according to a DRF analysis of betting data from charts of races. 

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Burnham Square looks like an overgrown greyhound – long legs and a narrow barrel topped by a surprisingly large head, a gelding who’d never catch the eye in a crowd of exercising animals. 

East Avenue is a Godolphin homebred of royal lineage. He’s like a Zeus of Thoroughbreds, taller even than the tall Burnham Square but cut like a god, a magnificent route horse with the speed of a sprinter. 

Admire Daytona and Heart of Honor, the one-two finishers from last Saturday’s U.A.E. Derby at Meydan, head the list of five 3-year-olds who were made late nominees to the Triple Crown by their connections, it was announced Tuesday.

Also nominated by Monday’s second deadline, at a cost of $6,000, were Colloquial, winner of Monday’s Lafayette Stakes at Keeneland; Brereton’s Baytown, fifth in the Arkansas Derby; and Just a Fair Shake, recent winner of a first-level allowance race at Laurel.