LOUISVILLE, Ky. – They say breed the best to the best, and hope for the best. Mandy Pope began seriously upgrading her broodmare band about a decade ago in order to follow that maxim, and has established one of the best in the country. That has led her to Kentucky Derby week, where she’s hoping for the best with her lightly raced Charge It.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The annual Kentucky Thoroughbred Association’s Kentucky Derby Trainers’ Dinner always includes a trophy presentation to the reigning Derby-winning trainer. This year’s honoree, Brad Cox, was quick to acknowledge the elephant in the room Tuesday night at the Speed Art Museum in Louisville.

“Obviously, everyone in the room knows this has been a very different way of getting to the Derby winner’s circle, or accepting a Derby win,” Cox said. “But I’m very proud of Mandaloun and the race that he ran.”

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The traditional bounty of wagering options Friday and Saturday on Churchill racing includes a couple of new Derby Day bets.

The new Saturday wagers are a 50-cent pick five comprising main-track stakes, starting with the Knicks Go (race 6), and a $3-minimum all-3-year-old pick three (Pat Day Mile, American Turf, Derby).

It often takes longer for a stallion to prove himself as a broodmare sire than as a sire of sires. With no expensive stud deals in the offing, fillies sometimes race longer than colts – and, of course, once retired, they only have one foal a year to begin building their resume, as compared to a stallion, who will have dozens of shots at stakes victories in each crop.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Brad Cox keeps getting asked what it feels like to win the Kentucky Derby the way he did.

“More than 100 times,” said Cox. “Maybe not 200, but yeah, a lot.”

CHURCHILL DOWNS

Weather: Raining

Temp: 65

Track: Sloppy

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Weather was the story on Tuesday at Churchill Downs, with rain, heavy at times, beginning just as the track opened for training and continuing right up to the first renovation break nearly two hours later. The strip was sealed and sloppy the entire morning, including during the special Kentucky Derby/Oaks session at 7:30 a.m.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- The homework now begins in earnest for the jockeys of the 148th Kentucky Derby following Monday afternoon's post position draw.

"[A lot] depends on me and studying my race," said Reylu Gutierrez, who will ride the late-running Barber Road as his first Derby mount.

Barber Road and Gutierrez landed in post 14 in the full field, and first-time Derby trainer John Ortiz is fine with that.

Al Gold was on a family vacation in the Catskills in the summer of 1972 when he visited Monticello Raceway, a Standardbred track in that part of the upstate New York region.

“The place was packed – completely different from the way it is today – and it was enjoyable,” Gold said.

The following day, Gold was in the gym of the hotel his family was staying at when he overheard a conversation between two men discussing how a particular race was going to play out that night at Monticello.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Summer Is Tomorrow had a quiet Tuesday morning, walking at the quarantine barn that houses the international candidates for the Kentucky Derby a day after turning in his final breeze toward the race, and a day after drawing a post position that will make his early moves key in the run to the first turn.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Epicenter, no worse than second choice for the Kentucky Derby, galloped one mile just after the Churchill Downs track opened for training on a rainy Tuesday morning. The Louisiana Derby winner came out of a five-furlong workout Sunday in good shape and after tack-walking on Monday quickly returned to galloping, a good sign for his Derby chances.