LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Bob Baffert spent his first morning at the racetrack as Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert on Tuesday at Churchill Downs, watching with delight as Pioneerof the Nile turned in an impressive-looking workout in preparation for the 135th Kentucky Derby on May 2.

Pioneerof the Nile was one of five potential Kentucky Derby starters to work on a cold, overcast morning at Churchill Downs over a drying-out racetrack that was labeled fast but was on the laboring side following two days of soaking rains.

LEXINGTON, Ky. - Advice was the winner of the Coolmore Lexington Stakes on Saturday at Keeneland, but it was third-place finisher Square Eddie who was the revelation in his first start since suffering a minor fracture in February. Despite an effort in which he broke poorly and then circled the field on the far turn, Square Eddie came out of the race well, according to trainer Doug O'Neill, and will try to complete his improbable comeback in the 135th Kentucky Derby on May 2 at Churchill Downs.

It is looking more and more as though Godolphin Racing will run both Regal Ransom and Desert Party, the one-two finishers in the United Arab Emirates Derby, in the May 2 Kentucky Derby. On Monday, Godolphin racing manager Simon Crisford said jockeys Alan Garcia and Ramon Dominguez had been retained to ride the colts, who worked at Churchill Downs on Saturday morning.

Giant Oak, the second-place finisher in the Illinois Derby, will be kept out of the May 2 Kentucky Derby and will be pointed to a campaign on turf, trainer Chris Block said Monday.

"Physically, he's fine, but we don't think he's seasoned enough for a race like the Derby," Block said from Chicago, where he is based. "We're going to go back to the grass with him."

Block said the next likely start for Giant Oak would be the Arlington Classic at Arlington Park on May 23.

Garrett Gomez has chosen to ride Pioneerof the Nile over Dunkirk in the Kentucky Derby, his agent, Ron Anderson, confirmed Sunday morning. Meanwhile, Edgar Prado has picked up the mount on Dunkirk, trainer Todd Pletcher confirmed via a text.

LEXINGTON, Ky. - Whatever else he does on the racetrack, General Quarters already has served as an object lesson in the vagaries of racing luck, bad and good.

The 3-year-old Sky Mesa colt is headed for the Kentucky Derby after a win in the April 11 Blue Grass Stakes.

ELMONT, N.Y. - Rival trainers hoping that the quarter crack sustained by Quality Road in the Florida Derby would derail his chances of making it to the Kentucky Derby were probably glad they were not at Belmont Park on Friday morning.

Had they been, they would have seen Quality Road work a strong six furlongs in 1:12.03, a move in which he completed his last three furlongs in 35.10 seconds, according to Daily Racing Form. He galloped out seven furlongs in 1:25.55 under exercise rider Juan Moreno.

Midshipman, the division's champion, is out. So too Vineyard Haven. This past week, Old Fashioned left the trail to the Kentucky Derby. Many of the prominent 2-year-olds from last year will not be in the Derby on May 2 at Churchill Downs.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Joe Talamo had been to Churchill Downs once before, when he was 15. He and his family drove up from Louisiana as spectators for the 2005 Kentucky Derby.

Things have changed dramatically for Talamo in the nearly four years that have passed. On Tuesday morning, Talamo took in the Twin Spires from the Churchill backstretch when riding I Want Revenge from Barn 24 to the racetrack for the colt's first of three scheduled workouts leading up to the 135th Derby on May 2.

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - Between them, Gary Stute and Tom McCarthy train exactly seven horses. But one of Stute's six is Papa Clem, who on Saturday won the Arkansas Derby here at Oaklawn Park. McCarthy's one-horse stable consists of General Quarters, who on Saturday won the Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland. Both trainers, and their horses, secured berths in the May 2 Kentucky Derby, whose ranks of top contenders took a hit when Old Fashioned suffered a career-ending injury when finishing second in the Arkansas Derby.