While a full, 20-horse field looks likely for the 139th Kentucky Derby on May 4 at Churchill Downs, just who will obtain those coveted final spots remained in doubt Monday, and likely will remain so through this weekend, when the final race worth points, the $175,000-added Derby Trial, is run.

[bc_video_id:290059:]LOUISVILLE, Ky. – After a hectic Sunday that featured workouts from five likely Kentucky Derby starters, including potential favorite Verrazano, things quieted down a bit Monday morning.

Only one horse presently committed to the race, Oxbow, turned in an official workout during the 15-minute session reserved for Derby and Kentucky Oaks starters, with two other potential starters, both from the barn of trainer Bob Baffert, Power Broker and Code West, also breezing.

STICKNEY, Ill. – Departing was back in his stall on the Churchill Downs backstretch Monday morning after sharply winning the Grade 3, $750,000 Illinois Derby on Saturday at Hawthorne, and that is exactly where Departing will remain during the running of the Kentucky Derby on May 4.

Zaikov, a sensational 14-length winner of his only start at Gulfstream Park earlier this winter, is on the farm in Ocala, Fla., recovering from a minor shin issue, trainer Todd Pletcher confirmed Monday.

Zaikov is a homebred son of Distorted Humor out of the Grade 1-winning mare Wait a While owned by Alan Cohen’s Arindel Farm. Zaikov launched his career at Gulfstream on March 15 and ran off the screen in the six-furlong maiden special weight dash, completing the distance in 1:09.78 while winning with speed to spare. The performance earned Zaikov a 99 Beyer Speed Figure.

A terrific field of filly and mare turf marathoners has been entered in the Thursday feature at Keeneland, the Grade 3, $150,000 Bewitch Stakes. Kissable, Gathering, Scampering, and Regalo Mia are among a full cast of 12 scheduled to clash in the three-turn, 1 1/2-mile race.

Gathering, an Augustin Stable homebred trained by Jonathan Sheppard, was one of the most spectacular winners here so far this meet, spotting her opposition a huge margin with a terrible break before overcoming it to win the April 6 race by a widening 3 1/4 lengths.

LEXINGTON, Ky. – It’s the kind of problem any trainer would like to have. Charlie LoPresti will be trying to sort out schedules over the coming weeks while avoiding direct conflict between Wise Dan, the 2012 Horse of the Year, and Successful Dan, who made a stirring return to the races Sunday at Keeneland, capturing the Grade 3 Ben Ali Stakes as the odds-on favorite.

Givhans Ferry’s natural speed could put her in an ideal position to win the first stakes race of her career Wednesday in the $50,000 Wilma Mankiller Memorial at Will Rogers Downs near Tulsa, Okla. She’s a candidate to control the pace in the six-furlong race for fillies and mares or track Storm’s Promise, a turf-to-dirt prospect situated to her inside. Givhans Ferry, who will break from post 6 in the field of seven, will be the first Will Rogers starter for trainer Steve Margolis.

OLDSMAR, Fla. – Horse racing is a game of cycles, and trainers Jason DaCosta and Chad Stewart can certainly attest to that.

Both trainers got off to quick starts this season at Tampa Bay Downs, with DaCosta winning with 9 of his first 19 starters while Stewart sent out 8 winners from his first 19 runners.

But horses lose their conditions, maiden winners must come back against winning rivals, and there are minor illnesses and ailments that are a daily part of the game. Add to that some tough racing luck, and a hot streak can turn cold in no time flat.

ARCADIA, Calif. – The Santa Anita winter-spring meeting ended Sunday with a slight gain in all-sources handle, but a sizeable drop in ontrack business, according to the track’s president, George Haines.

The track released limited business and handle data.

In an interview, Haines said the all-sources handle rose 4 percent. Ontrack handle fell 10 percent on comparative days from the 2011-12 winter-spring season, while ontrack attendance was down 9 percent, he said.

LEXINGTON, Ky. – The good news: It has been a productive spring in his home state for Hall of Fame trainer and Kentucky native Shug McGaughey.

Even better news: The best may be yet to come.

McGaughey already has sent out horses such as Hungry Island, Reflecting, Data Link, Reload, Imagining, and Boisterous for big runs at the Keeneland spring meet, but that might all be mere foreshadowing for what is right around the corner with Point of Entry in the Woodford Reserve Turf Classic and a colt named Orb in a certain race on the same May 4 card at Churchill Downs.