HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Cyberknife picked up 100 points for the Kentucky Derby with his powerful, 2 3/4-length win in the Grade 1, $1.25 million Arkansas Derby on Saturday at Oaklawn Park.  

Cyberknife ($13.60) sat off the pace set by Kavod, who took the field through fractions of 22.11 seconds for the opening quarter, 46.51 for the half-mile, and 1:11.22 for six furlongs. The eventual winner took the lead in the stretch and went on to cover 1 1/8 miles on a fast track in 1:50.42.

Brad Cox trains Cyberknife for Gold Square.  

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – White Abarrio missed some training time due to a temperature, but his stretch run Saturday was right on time, as he rallied past Simplification in deep stretch and held off a run from an inexperienced Charge It to win Saturday’s Grade 1, $1 million Florida Derby by 1 1/4 lengths.

Charge It, coming off a maiden win and favored for most of the betting, finished second after lugging in during the stretch run. He was sent off the 3-1 third choice and finished a length in front of favored Simplification, who tired a bit late.

The Kentucky Court of Appeals on Friday declined to issue an emergency injunction that would have stayed a 90-day suspension handed down by the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission to trainer Bob Baffert, setting in motion the start of the penalty on Monday.

In an order signed by Judge Allison Jones, the court ruled that it did not find cause to issue the emergency injunction and said that the larger case appealing the commission’s decision to deny a stay would be “assigned to a three-judge panel of this court following expiration of the response time provided in the civil rules.”

McLaren Vale, third in the Grade 2 San Vicente Stakes in February, will miss the Grade 1 Runhappy Santa Anita Derby on April 9, leaving the highly regarded Messier as trainer Tim Yakteen’s lone starter in the $750,000 race.

Yakteen said Friday that McLaren Vale remains in training, but did not mention a race goal.

“We’re in a holding pattern,” Yakteen said. “We’ll see how he works.”

ARCADIA, Calif. – Forbidden Kingdom will enter the Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby in top shape following a seven-furlong workout Thursday at Santa Anita that alleviates two potential concerns.

First of all, the Thursday workout renders irrelevant the missed workout two weeks ago due to a fever. As trainer Richard Mandella suggested, it was no big deal. Forever Kingdom has posted two solid works since recovering.

FLORENCE, Ky. – Tiz the Bomb and Stolen Base have become familiar foes the last six months and will meet again Saturday in the Grade 3, $600,000 Jeff Ruby Steaks at Turfway Park.

The two colts most recently faced each other in the local prep, the John Battaglia Memorial on March 5. Stolen Base just missed tagging out his foe at the wire, as Tiz the Bomb held on by a diminishing neck. In hopes of stealing home this time, trainer Mike Maker will put blinkers on his late-rallying ace to help position him well early.

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – He sent out Winning Colors to win the Kentucky Derby, making her one of three fillies to wear the roses. Four years before that, he won the Arkansas Derby with the filly Althea. Lady’s Secret, Serena’s Song, Terlingua. The list of fillies with whom trainer D. Wayne Lukas beat the boys in major stakes is an all-star cast.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The fifth and final pool of the 2022 Kentucky Derby Future Wager, originally scheduled for this week, has been delayed by one week by Churchill Downs and now will run next Thursday (April 7) through Saturday (April 9).

A Wednesday press release from Churchill said the delay was “in the best interest of bettors,” pending the results of preps to be run this weekend as well as other factors, such as the status of several Derby candidates still to be determined.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – White Abarrio missed nearly two weeks of training and two scheduled works leading up to his 4 1/2-length triumph over the slow-starting Simplification here earlier this winter in the Grade 3 Holy Bull. Simplification, in turn, found himself a whole new running style as a result of missing the break in the Holy Bull, and he flattered the race by rallying to an easy victory of his own in the roughly run Grade 2 Fountain of Youth four weeks later.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – A field of 11 3-year-olds was drawn Wednesday for Saturday’s $1 million Florida Derby at Gulfstream Park, featuring leading prospects White Abarrio, Simplification, Classic Causeway, and Charge It.