Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas has gotten a good look at Bob Baffert’s one-two punch for the Kentucky Derby. Lukas longshot Mr. Z tangled with both halves of the juggernaut, finishing third, less than a neck behind Dortmund, in the Grade 1 Los Alamitos Futurity last December, and third, 8 3/4 lengths behind American Pharoah, in the Grade 1 Arkansas Derby three weeks ago.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Upstart has a few white spots on his dark bay coat, but trainer Rick Violette maintains it’s not skin disease.

Violette says it’s a skin pigmentation that first showed up during the winter at Gulfstream Park. It was clearly evident in the days leading up to the Florida Derby, a race in which he finished second to Materiality.

“He had two or three times as many [spots] earlier this winter,” Violette said.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – A couple Grade 1-winning horses that at one time had been considered for major Kentucky Oaks/Kentucky Derby undercard races at Churchill Downs have been redirected elsewhere.

Stopchargingmaria, who had been considered a probable starter by the Churchill Downs racing office for the Friday’s Grade 1 La Troienne, now is being pointed toward the Grade 3 Allaire DuPont Distaff on May 15 at Pimlico, trainer Todd Pletcher said. She won the Black Eyed Susan over that racetrack last year.

Travis Stone has been acclimating himself to the announcer’s booth at Churchill, where he became the regular caller when the spring meet opened Saturday night.

“It’s a terrific booth with great sight lines,” said Stone. “I’m going to be as prepared as I can possibly be.”

Bettors who took 3-5 on the mutuel field in Pool 1 of the 2015 Kentucky Derby Future Wager last fall will have 13 horses on their side Saturday, but the top three morning-line choices – American Pharoah, Dortmund, and Carpe Diem – were separately listed interests in that opening pool, jeopardizing that play.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Forget becoming a Hall of Famer or a legend. All these folks want to do Saturday is emulate the likes of jockeys Ronnie Franklin and Stewart Elliott or trainers Barclay Tagg and Chip Woolley.

And just what did those guys do? Well, their first time up at the Kentucky Derby, they absolutely knocked it out of the park.

They were Derby rookies who tasted victory in their first go-around – an extraordinary act that five jockeys and five trainers will be trying to accomplish Saturday in the 141st Run for the Roses at Churchill Downs.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The jockey Christophe Soumillon never has ridden in the Kentucky Derby. He will do so for the first time Saturday when he gets astride Mubtaahij. Do not expect Soumillon to be overwhelmed. Do not expect mistakes.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – There finally was an El Kabeir sighting on the track Wednesday at Churchill Downs, but even that didn’t quell whispers that the gray colt might not be running in Saturday’s Kentucky Derby.

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LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Stories abound at the Kentucky Derby, rippling from the combatants themselves and their human connections in predictable arcs: the tear-jerker, the ugly duckling, the little guy on the big stage. This Derby colt Mubtaahij? He is a four-legged travelogue.

ARCADIA, Calif. – She’s a Big Winner often gets things her own way.

The stakes-winning 3-year-old filly has proven to be forceful before and during races. She won the Sweet Life Stakes at about 6 1/2 furlongs on the hillside turf course at Santa Anita in February, racing near the lead throughout, and returns to that course for Friday’s $75,000 Ultrafleet Stakes for 3-year-old fillies.

“I think the distance will be good for her,” jockey Brice Blanc said on Wednesday. “She’s very aggressive and very speedy. She has a tendency to want to do too much.”