Uh Oh Bango, the fourth-place finisher in the Arkansas Derby on Saturday and the 21st horse on the list of graded earnings among prospects for the May 1 Kentucky Derby, emerged from the Arkansas Derby with a fractured left front cannon bone and will be sidelined from four to six months, his trainer, Kory Owens, said Tuesday morning.

The field for this year's Kentucky Derby picked up two new shooters Saturday when the previously unheralded pair of Line of David and Stately Victor pulled off upsets in the Arkansas Derby and Blue Grass, respectively. But the prospective field for the Derby on May 1 will be in flux right up to entry time on April 28, both because there are currently more than the maximum number of 20 horses who are being pointed for the race and there is uncertainty over the prospects of some horses currently in the top 20.

Aikenite, who beat only one horse in the Blue Grass Stakes on Saturday at Keeneland, will not press forward and run in the Kentucky Derby, Cot Campbell, who runs the Dogwood Farms partnership which owns Aikenite, said Monday.

"He's out. We're not thinking about the Derby," Campbell said from his office in Aiken, S.C. "We wanted to see him run a good race. He did not run well enough to entertain thoughts of the Derby."

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - The trend has been unmistakable. Time and again in recent months, across all divisions, horses have been leaving Southern California, having raced or trained on the synthetic surfaces at Santa Anita and Hollywood Park, and won when moving to dirt.

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - The richest Kentucky Derby prep race in the country will be run at Oaklawn Park on Saturday when $1 million will be on the line in the Grade 1 Arkansas Derby, yet all anyone wanted to talk about on the backstretch here on Monday morning was the runaway victory by Eskendereya in the , both last Saturday.

It's only natural that as an Englishman, with a love for European racing, trainer Jeremy Noseda rates the historic Epsom Derby as the race he most covets. But having a great appreciation for American racing - and having trained here for two years - Noseda has a keen desire to participate in this country's greatest race, the Kentucky Derby.

"I think it might be as hard a race to win as any in the world," Noseda said. "It's a unique test, and it's a great race. I'd be thrilled just to have the opportunity to compete in it. That's why I've kept this horse."

Six 3-year-olds, including the runner-up in the Grade 3 Gotham Stakes, were nominated to the Triple Crown by the late-nomination deadline of March 27.

Five of the six horses who were nominated by the late deadline are scheduled to run in major Triple Crown prep races this weekend. The horses are Carnivore, Game Ball, Posse Power, Thomas Baines, Raise the Bridle, and Yawanna Twist.

Winning preps for the Kentucky Derby is one thing. Winning the race is another matter. Just ask trainer Todd Pletcher, who has been there, but not done that.

Pletcher is knocking off Derby preps like a general on a march. On Saturday, he added the to a spring campaign whose stakes conquests already include the Fountain of Youth, Risen Star, El Camino Real Derby, and Sam Davis. Still to come are bids in the Wood Memorial, Arkansas Derby, Blue Grass, and Lexington.

What a difference a horse makes - a Kentucky Derby-winning horse. They know all too well in Pennsylvania, where Smarty Jones resuscitated the state's racing and breeding programs. His Derby win in 2004, coupled with his subsequent bid for the Triple Crown, got the attention of the state's lawmakers, who enacted legislation that increased gaming in the state, a portion of which was earmarked for racing, thus fueling a spectacular rise in purses and monies available to breeders.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - The top three finishers from Saturday's came out of their races in good order and will now set their sights on the May 1 Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs, their connections said Sunday.