HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Trainer Tom Albertrani was back in balmy south Florida at the Palm Meadows training center on Tuesday morning, still thawing out from his trip to Kentucky and still revelling in Brilliant Speed’s narrowest of victories in the Blue Grass Stakes.

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Shy of earnings to make the Kentucky Derby field as things stand now, Silver Medallion had his first breeze since returning to Churchill Downs when going an easy half-mile Monday morning in 51.40 seconds, a move that might well have moved trainer Steve Asmussen closer to running the colt Saturday in the Grade 3 Coolmore Lexington Stakes at Keeneland.

“We still have a decision to make,” Asmussen said. “But I did think he moved beautifully over this track this morning.”

The run-up to this year’s Kentucky Derby has been punctuated by a series of favorites being defeated in major prep races, defections of previously well-regarded horses, and some surprising additions.

Astrology, one of last year's top 2-year-olds, will skip the Kentucky Derby and make his next start on Saturday in the Grade 2 Jerome at Aqueduct, according to a press release sent out by his connections on Monday afternoon.

Astrology finished second in the Sunland Derby in his only start this year. He is owned by Jess Jackson and George Bolton.

After Frankel breezed through his seasonal debut in the Group 3 Greenham Stakes at Newbury on April 16, running his undefeated streak to five, it could be argued that the most talented 3-year-old colt in the world is not based in the United States.

Listed as the overwhelming 4-6 favorite for the Group 1 2000 Guineas at Newmarket on April 30, Frankel will likely be a handful in that English classic.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – What a difference one loss makes. Instead of a backstretch throng to greet him following a police escort from the airport – the preferred treatment for a racing superstar – Uncle Mo was met by maybe a dozen cameramen and media members when arriving Monday at his Churchill Downs barn at precisely noon Eastern, about two hours behind schedule, in advance of the 137th Kentucky Derby

There very well could be a European representative in this year's Kentucky Derby. Master of Hounds is being strongly considered for the race, according Monday to an Irish-based spokesman for Coolmore Stud's John Magnier, who owns Master of Hounds.

"At the moment, the plan is for Master of Hounds to run in the Derby," said the spokesman, who asked not to be identified but has spoken with authority on Coolmore-related matters in the past. "He still has a few pieces of work. After that, the trainer will decide."

Jockey Robby Albarado will work Spiral Stakes winner Animal Kingdom on dirt Saturday at Churchill Downs, a drill that is expected to determine Animal Kingdom's status for the May 7 Kentucky Derby, Barry Irwin, the president of owner Team Valor International, said on Monday.