In the past year, trainer Kiaran McLaughlin has had horses finish second in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile, second in the Fountain of Youth Stakes, second in the Remsen Stakes, second in the Wood Memorial, and, oh yes, second in the Kentucky Derby. It's a nice place parlay, but he wouldn't mind getting a winner's circle photo, too.

"It would be nice to get up and win a big one," McLaughlin said Friday.

McLaughlin is taking aim at this year's Kentucky Derby with at least one and as many as three starters. Jazil, who most recently

LEXINGTON, Ky. - When the Grade 2, $325,000 is run Saturday at Keeneland as the last major prep race before the 132nd Kentucky Derby, it might well unfold like a mini-version of the Derby itself.

Indeed, with an ample dose of early speed in the 1 1/16-mile Lexington - Like Now, Fast Parade, and the unbeaten Showing Up are part of the 10-horse field - the race is a fitting preview to what the May 6 Derby holds in store.

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WHO'S HOT

Trainer David Hofmans does not have a horse running in the Grade 2, $325,000 Lexington Stakes on Saturday at Keeneland, but he has a huge rooting interest.

"I want Like Now to win," Hofmans said Wednesday. "He's already ahead of us. If anyone else wins, we'll drop down."

Godolphin Racing announced on Tuesday that undefeated Discreet Cat, the winner of the United Arab Emirates Derby, would not run in the May 6 Kentucky Derby, removing from the field the colt with the most graded-stakes earnings and enhancing the chances of those horses on the earnings bubble.

As of Tuesday, more than 20 3-year-olds were still pointing for the Derby. If more than 20 enter the Derby on May 3, the field will be determined strictly by .

Discreet Cat will bypass the Kentucky Derby to be prepared for other races later in the season, Godolphin announced on Tuesday morning.

The SIX-length winner of the Group 2 UAE Derby had been expected to represent Godolphin in the Run for the Roses this year as Sheikh Mohammed continues to search for an elusive Kentucky Derby crown. Instead, Discreet Cat will be shipped to Belmont park from his Al Quoz base in Dubai on April 23. A number of factors led Godolphin to decide to give the Churchill Downs classic a miss.

Barbaro, Brother Derek, and Lawyer Ron all were at or near the top of anyone's short list of Kentucky Derby contenders at the beginning of the year, and each one has remained unbeaten since then. They, along with Wood Memorial winner Bob and John, Illinois Derby winner Sweetnorthernsaint, and United Arab Emirates Derby winner Discreet Cat, make up a formidable group of top prospects for the 132nd Kentucky Derby on May 6 at Churchill Downs.

First Samurai, who finished fifth in Saturday's Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland, is officially off the Kentucky Derby trail, his co-owner, Bruce Lunsford, told Daily Racing Form on Monday.

However, there are still so many 3-year-olds whose connections want to run in the 132nd Derby on May 6 that it appears graded stakes earnings will come into play. If more than 20 horses are entered in the Derby, the field is determined by earnings in graded stakes races.

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LEXINGTON, Ky. - There once was a time when it seemed the route to the Kentucky Derby was a straight shot down I-64, from Keeneland and its Blue Grass Stakes right to Churchill Downs. From 1963 through 1972, six of those 10 Blue Grass winners repeated in the Derby.