Irap (photo by Jordan Sigmon).
- Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby runner-up Battle of Midway has been sold by Rick Porter to a partnership of WinStar Farm and Don Alberto Stable and will be ridden in the May 6 Grade 1 Kentucky Derby by Flavien Prat.
- Hall of Famer Jerry Hollendorfer will continue as Battle of Midway’s trainer.
- Olympic gold medal skier Bode Miller has purchased a small interest in Grade 3 Spiral Stakes champ Fast and Accurate, joining a group that includes majority owner Kendall Hansen, Skychai Racing and Sand Dollar Stable.
- Trainer Todd Pletcher is expected to consolidate his Derby contenders, who are currently at Palm Beach Downs, Keeneland and Belmont Park, at Churchill Downs next week and give them final works under the Twin Spires.
- Due to impending rain, conditioner Joe Sharp relocated multiple graded stakes hero Girvin from Churchill Downs’ Trackside Training Center to Keeneland in order to have access to the synthetic training track.
- Girvin is now expected to work on April 23 or 24 at Keeneland, after rain clears the area, before returning to Louisville for his final pre-Derby work.
- Grade 2 Blue Grass Stakes victor Irap is slated to have his final pre-Derby work on April 28 at Keeneland and then head to Churchill Downs early during the race week.
- Derby jockey Mario Gutierrez will fly in from California to be aboard Irap in his final workout.
- Practical Joke will depart Keeneland for Churchill Downs early next week and will have his final Derby workout on April 28.
- Kent Desormeaux will ride Sonneteer in the Derby if the colt, which is trained by his brother Keith, gets into the Derby starting gate.
- Among the top jockeys yet to be confirmed on a Derby runner are Florent Geroux and Irad Ortiz, Jr.
- Grade 2 Wood Memorial fourth-place finisher True Timber may be pointed to Belmont Park’s Grade 3 Peter Pan Stakes on May 13.
- Shadwell Stable homebred Takaful has resumed galloping after finishing eighth in Gulfstream Park’s Grade 2 Fountain of Youth Stakes and could return in the Grade 2 Woody Stephens Stakes on the June 10 Belmont Stakes (G1) undercard.
