ARCADIA, Calif. – The Grade 1 stakes winners Marley’s Freedom and McKinzie, both finalists for Eclipse Awards in 2018, will be part of trainer Bob Baffert’s team of stakes runners at Churchill Downs on the first weekend of May.

McKinzie, second in the Grade 1 Santa Anita Handicap on April 6, will start in the Grade 2 Alysheba Stakes on May 3, a $400,000 race run at 1 1/16 miles. Baffert said on Wednesday that the Alysheba Stakes is designed as a prep for the Grade 1 Metropolitan Handicap at Belmont Park on June 8.

“That’s our main goal,” he said.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Trainer Mike Maker has three of the 10 older horses – Soglio, Bigger Picture, and Zulu Alpha – in the Saturday feature, the Grade 2, $250,000 Elkhorn. Maker has two wins in the Elkhorn, with Dark Cove (2013) and Da Big Hoss (2016).

From the hedge, this is the field for the 1 1/2-mile turf race: Vettori Kin, Hunter O’Riley, Leitone, Soglio, Canessar, Tiz a Slam, Bigger Picture, Red Knight, Final Copy, Zulu Alpha.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Trainer Ignacio Correas said the decision to scratch Blue Prize as the likely favorite from the Grade 3, $100,000 Doubledogdare on Friday at Keeneland in favor of the Grade 1, $500,000 La Troienne on May 3 at Churchill was made for several reasons.

“First of all, we’d like to get another Grade 1 for her,” said Correas, referring to her victory here last fall in the Spinster. “And she loves Churchill. Also, Monomoy Girl isn’t running in the La Troienne, and the Doubledogdare looks tougher than a normal Grade 3.”

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Omaha Beach arrived Tuesday afternoon from Arkansas in becoming the latest contender for the 145th Kentucky Derby to take up residence at Churchill Downs.

WHO’S HOT

ARCADIA, Calif. – The California Horse Racing Board has filed a complaint against trainer William Morey, alleging that a member of his staff administered a substance containing an alkalizing agent to two horses in the hours before they were scheduled to start on March 29 at Santa Anita.

The stewards at Santa Anita have scheduled a hearing in the case for May 2. The hearing could lead to a fine and/or suspension against Morey, pending testimony and a decision by stewards.

Irad Ortiz Jr. will ride Improbable in the Kentucky Derby on May 4 at Churchill Downs, according to Elliott Walden, the chief executive of co-owner WinStar Farm.

Jose Ortiz, Irad's brother, rode Improbable to a second-place finish in the Arkansas Derby on Saturday. Jose Ortiz has chosen to ride Tacitus, the Wood Memorial winner, in the Kentucky Derby.

Walden said Irad Ortiz was chosen because "he's a top rider, and we won a Belmont Stakes with him with Creator."

"It made sense," Walden said Monday. "He's an Eclipse Award-winning rider."

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – The long-range goal for Midnight Bisou this year remains the Breeders’ Cup Distaff, but the path she will take to get there is still being determined, trainer Steve Asmussen said Monday, the day after Midnight Bisou won the Grade 1, $750,000 Apple Blossom Handicap at Oaklawn Park.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – One trainer who will have a major presence during the Gulfstream Park spring-summer session is Wesley Ward, who makes his home year round in South Florida and plans to spend as much time as possible in the area in the months ahead.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Trainer Phil Serpe has been a fixture during the winter at Gulfstream Park for nearly three decades. But not since 1992, when Serpe won 18 races, has he had a season in South Florida like the one that ended over the weekend with a pair of victories, including Lady Joan’s front-running half-length triumph over the odds-on Thewayiam in an optional claimer on Saturday.