LEXINGTON, Ky. - Hard Spun left Keeneland early Thursday morning, and was back in his stall here shortly after noon. In between, though, he made a quick trip over to Churchill Downs, where he turned in a five-furlong work that convinced trainer Larry Jones to stay on course for the Kentucky Derby on May 5.

LEXINGTON, Ky. - It snowed on opening day last Friday here at Keeneland, rain arrived on Wednesday, and more was forecast for later in the week. But for the first time in the 83-year history of the Blue Grass Stakes, no one was concerned about what would happen to the main track.

"With the Polytrack, you don't have to worry about the weather or a hard track," said trainer Carl Nafzger, who will send out Kentucky Derby favorite Street Sense in the Grade 1, $750,000 Blue Grass on Saturday. "You can eliminate those factors."

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – With the regional finals having been run this past weekend in California, Illinois, and New York, focus for the May 5 Kentucky Derby becomes a little more narrowed. Other than the Arkansas Derby on Saturday at Oaklawn Park, all the action will be taking place here in Kentucky, where Saturday’s Blue Grass Stakes and the Lexington Stakes on April 21 are the final graded stakes leading to the Derby.

ARCADIA, Calif. - On Saturday night, halfway around the world at Nad Al Sheba in Dubai, Paul Reddam led Spring at Last into the winner's circle following the Godolphin Mile. Reddam then pulled an all-nighter in an attempt to watch Notional in the Florida Derby on a computer screen at his hotel. A few hours later, having forgone sleep - "There was no point going to bed," he said - Reddam and his wife, Zillah, were on a plane to New York, and then on to their home in California, where they arrived Sunday night, though their luggage was lost somewhere en route.

Trainer Todd Pletcher will call an audible when entries are taken Wednesday morning at Aqueduct in New York for the Grade 1, $750,000 Wood Memorial on Saturday, he said Tuesday night. Louisiana Derby winner Circular Quay, who had been expected to run in the Wood, instead will bypass that race and train up to the May 5 Kentucky Derby, and his place will be taken by Tampa Bay Derby runner-up Any Given Saturday, who had been scheduled to run April 14 in the Grade 1, $750,000 Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Traffic problems might cost the average person a few minutes on the road each morning. Traffic problems in the Florida Derby might have cost trainer Michael Matz the opportunity to defend Barbaro's title in the Kentucky Derby.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Bill Currin lives in a Hollywood Hills residence once owned by Clark Gable, and owns horses named Call Me Rhett and Where's Scarlett. But for many, including rival trainers, who have observed Currin's handling of Stormello this spring, they think Currin has gone with the wind.

When one man has a lot of dominoes, and one of them falls, it sets off a chain reaction. Such was the situation on Wednesday, when trainer Todd Pletcher announced that Sham Stakes winner Ravel, who was scheduled to head the field in the Grade 1, $750,000 Santa Anita Derby on April 7, was out of that race and off the trail for the Kentucky Derby because of an injured left front leg.

The spectacular stretch run between Street Sense and Any Given Saturday in the Tampa Bay Derby, coupled with outstanding performances from Curlin in the Rebel Stakes, Cobalt Blue in the San Felipe Stakes, and Song of Navarone in the WinStar Derby this past weekend, were more examples of a developing trend this spring: that this year's crop of 3-year-olds has depth, is fast and consistent, and has numerous candidates who won't find the Kentucky Derby's 1 1/4 miles a daunting task.

As problems go, these are nice ones to have. By virtue of victories last weekend with Circular Quay in the Louisiana Derby at Fair Grounds, Cowtown Cat in the Gotham Stakes at Aqueduct, and the filly Rags to Riches in the Santa Anita Oaks, trainer Todd Pletcher enhanced his already powerful hand for the May 5 Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs. But with so many horses now funneling into a finite number of final preps, Pletcher has to decide who goes where, which of his horses might have to run against one another, and - here's a really tricky part - who will ride them.