LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Nobody has held a hotter hand in the Churchill jockey colony since the 38-day meet started April 28 than Brian Hernandez Jr.

After a terrific Derby weekend that included an upset of the Pat Day Mile on 39-1 shot Funny Duck and key allowance scores with McCraken and Crosswalk, Hernandez rode four winners on the Thursday program, the first post-Derby card. All four were part of a Single 6 force out that returned a whopping $81,891 for a winning 20-cent ticket, including Angaston, a 33-1 shot.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – He wasn’t actually here to witness it first hand, but surely Norm Casse was able to enjoy the first victory of his training career Thursday evening when favored Tiznoble rolled to a 7 1/4-length victory in the third race.

Casse was on a quick vacation trip to the Bahamas.

“It was only right to get our first win at my home [track],” he posted on Twitter. “It felt like it took a long time, but it was certainly worth the wait.”

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Steve Asmussen already is well into his ninth set of 1,000 victories while still savoring hitting the 8,000-win milestone on Kentucky Derby Day at Churchill Downs. The Hall of Fame trainer was thrilled that his parents and two of his sons were here to celebrate the monumental feat with him.

“I was happy beyond words,” Asmussen, 52, said one morning this week while astride his pony on the Churchill backside.

A person betting through an outlet in Lewiston, Maine, hit the Rainbow 6 jackpot at Gulfstream Park on Thursday for $1,214,280.

The key to hitting the Rainbow 6 on Thursday was $151.40 winner Global Beauty Coco in the seventh race.

The winners of the Rainbow 6 races were Love and Lemons ($3.60) in the fifth, Wild Chatter ($11.40) in the sixth, Global Beauty Coco ($151.40) in the seventh, Little Christina ($25) in the eighth, Reason to Soar ($4) in the ninth, and Delicious Pursuit ($18.20) in the 10th.

ARCADIA, Calif. – The champion Unique Bella and the multiple Grade 1 winner Paradise Woods are on schedule for their second meeting in the Grade 1 Beholder Mile on June 2, their trainers said Thursday.

Unique Bella, the champion female sprinter of 2017, was second after a slow start in the Grade 1 Apple Blossom Handicap at Oaklawn Park on April 13. Unique Bella was considered for the Grade 1 Ogden Phipps Stakes at Belmont Park on June 9, but is unlikely to be sent out of state.

“I think we’re looking toward running here,” trainer Jerry Hollendorfer said.

ARCADIA, Calif. – McKinzie was rated as trainer Bob Baffert’s leading 3-year-old hope earlier this year – until Justify came along.

While Justify is undefeated in four starts after an impressive win in the Kentucky Derby on May 5, McKinzie has returned to light training after being sidelined in late March with an undisclosed ailment that kept him from a start in the Santa Anita Derby on April 7.

Baffert said Thursday that McKinzie is tack-walking at his stable at Santa Anita, with no timetable for a return to racing.

ARCADIA, Calif. – Hall of Fame jockey Gary Stevens is in the midst of a road trip this weekend.

Stevens, 55, has spent the last several months riding primarily in Arkansas and Kentucky, and is returning to his longtime base in California. He and his family planned to spend this weekend driving from Louisville, Ky., to Southern California before Stevens resumes riding at Santa Anita on May 17.

Stevens has not ridden at Santa Anita since Dec. 31.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Everybody can calm down now.

Justify was sent through a spirited gallop early Thursday at Churchill Downs in his first day of training since the colt won the 144th Kentucky Derby, allaying concerns that his bid for the May 19 Preakness at Pimlico will be hindered by the minor injury he incurred during the Derby.

ELMONT, N.Y. – Hi Happy, the sharp winner of the Grade 2 Pan American at Gulfstream Park on March 31, drew post 7 in a field of 10 for Saturday’s Grade 1, $700,000 Man o’ War Stakes at 1 3/8 miles on turf.

Hi Happy will face a familiar rival in One Go All Go, whom Hi Happy defeated by 2 3/4 lengths in the Pan Am. One Go All Go returned to win the Grade 2 Elkhorn at Keeneland. One Go All Go drew post 9 and will have regular rider Chris Landeros up.

ELMONT, N.Y. – By virtue of his victory in the Federico Tesio Stakes at Laurel on April 21, Diamond King secured a fees-paid berth in the $1.5 million Preakness Stakes at Pimlico on May 19.

While his connections are still considering the Preakness, on Wednesday they entered Diamond King in Saturday’s Grade 3, $350,000 Peter Pan Stakes at Belmont Park. The Peter Pan is run at 1 1/8 miles around one turn.

Chuck Zacney, whose Cash Is King Stable is a co-owner of Diamond King, said Wednesday, “We’re at the enter-and-to-be-determined stage.”