LEXINGTON, Ky. – The inch or two that separated the victorious Brilliant Speed from runner-up Twinspired in the 87th Blue Grass Stakes on Saturday at Keeneland might be the difference in which horse makes the field for the May 7 Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs.

Brilliant Speed, the 19-1 winner for Live Oak Plantation, most likely will run back in the Derby after earning the $450,000 winner’s share from the $750,000 purse, whereas the $150,000 second-place check for Twinspired currently leaves him short of what would be required to make the 20-horse cutoff in the Derby field.

HOT SPRINGS, Ark.- Archarcharch emerged from his Arkansas Derby win in excellent shape, his trainer, Jinks Fires, said the morning after the race, and on Monday night plans are to ship Archarcharch to Churchill Downs to begin preparations for the Kentucky Derby.

“If they don’t block the road we’ll be there,” said Fires, a trainer for 50 years who at the age 70 will have his first starter in the Kentucky Derby.

“I always wanted to go there with a horse I thought had a shot. And we do think we have a shot.”

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – After turning down more than one seven-figure offer for Archarcharch, the conviction owner Bob Yagos and his wife, Val, showed paid the best kind of dividend Saturday. The horse they kept will be taking them to the Kentucky Derby.

Archarcharch rallied from off the pace and held off a late threat from Nehro to win Saturday’s $1 million Arkansas Derby at Oaklawn Park.

KENTUCKY DERBY NEWS: Track all the 3-year-olds on the Triple Crown trail

LEXINGTON, Ky. – The Live Oak Plantation of Charlotte Weber lost its major hope for the 137th Kentucky Derby when To Honor and Serve was declared from consideration earlier this month with a suspensory injury. But against the odds, Brilliant Speed gave Live Oak a brand new Derby prospect Saturday when the homebred colt rallied to nip Twinspired in leading a parade of longshots in a stunning 87th running of the Grade 1, $750,000 Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland.

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Brilliant Speed, rallying down the center of the track under Joel Rosario, got up in the final stride to edge Twinspired by a nose in Saturday’s Grade 1, $750,000 Toyota Bluegrass Stakes at Keeneland.

The finish was so tight that it took several minutes for placing judges to determine the order of finish. The winning margin appeared to be an inch or two.

HALLANDALE BEACH,Fla. - Risen Star winner and Kentucky Derby hopeful Mucho Macho Man zipped seven furlongs in 1:23.66 on Saturday morning at Gulfstream Park in his final work before his scheduled departure for Churchill Downs on Sunday.

KENTUCKY DERBY NEWS: Track all the 3-year-olds on the Triple Crown trail

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Pants On Fire worked five furlongs in a blistering 58.60 seconds at Palm Meadows shortly after the renovation break on Friday, his first work since upsetting the Grade 2 Louisiana Derby on March 26.

With exercise rider Juan Pizarro aboard, Pants On Fire completed his final quarter in 24 seconds before galloping out six furlongs in 1:13.80, according to track clocker Bryan Walls.

LEXINGTON, Ky. – The big-money chances to make the 137th Kentucky Derby thin out considerably once the $1 million Arkansas Derby and $750,000 Blue Grass Stakes have been run Saturday. A handful of lesser preps remain, perhaps most notably at Keeneland next Saturday, April 23, with the $200,000 Coolmore Lexington, a 1 1/16-mile Polytrack race for which Jaycito figures to be favored.

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LEXINGTON, Ky. – Yes, it’s a Grade 1 race with a $750,000 purse. But the inextricable significance of the Blue Grass Stakes is its positioning before the Kentucky Derby, and after the Blue Grass is run Saturday over Polytrack at Keeneland, everyone will surely be asking: What did it mean?