STICKNEY, Ill. - Emmanual Esquivel had never ridden in a race before the Hawthorne meet began in mid-February, but it took Esquivel almost no time to hit his stride. Less than two months into his career, Esquivel, still with a seven-pound apprentice weight allowance, has gone 20 for 120 at the Hawthorne meet, tying him for third in the jockey standings here.

LEXINGTON, Ky. - Trainer Ken McPeek, who won the Blue Grass with Java’s War, has confirmed the Grade 1-winning filly Pure Fun for the main feature of the coming weekend, the Grade 3, $200,000 Coolmore Lexington Stakes on Saturday.

McPeek wanted to see how Pure Fun came out of her Saturday work in company with stablemate Taken By the Storm and said Monday he is satisfied that “this is the way we should go.”

LEXINGTON, Ky. - Todd Pletcher not only holds a formidable hand for the Kentucky Derby with as many as five possible starters, but he might be even stronger with what he has for the Kentucky Oaks.

Pletcher figures to have two of the top choices for the May 3 Oaks in Dreaming of Julia and Unlimited Budget, both of whom were out for half-mile workouts Sunday morning over a fast main track at Churchill Downs. Dreaming of Julia, going solo, went in 49 seconds, while Unlimited Budget went in 48.60 seconds in company with yet another Oaks-bound Pletcher filly, Silsita.

Cluster of Stars came out of her 2 3/4-length victory in Saturday’s Grade 2 Distaff Handicap in good order, assistant trainer Toby Sheets said Monday, but no plans have yet been made for her next start.

Sheets did confirm that Cluster of Stars would not be wheeled right back in the Humana Distaff at Churchill Downs on Derby Day. The Humana Distaff is one of just three Grade 1 dirt sprints for older fillies and mares on the calendar before the Breeders’ Cup. The Princess Rooney at Calder on July 6 and the Ballerina at Saratoga on Aug. 23 are the others.

While trainer John Terranova and his connections ponder whether to run Falling Sky in the Kentucky Derby, the focus for West Hills Giant is a different sort of Triple Crown.

West Hills Giant, who finished 12th in the Blue Grass Stakes, will likely be pointed to the three-race series restricted to New York-breds known as the Big Apple Triple.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Wherever he runs next, Incognito won’t be able to sneak up on anybody.

While most followers of 3-year-old Thoroughbreds were focused on the Blue Grass and Arkansas Derby on Saturday, Incognito won a one-mile first-level allowance race by a nose after nearly falling down in midstretch and squeezing through a narrow opening in deep stretch.

It was the second straight victory for Incognito, a son of champion A.P. Indy out of the two-time Grade 1 winner Octave.

STICKNEY, Ill. – Departing, who is likely to be favored over an expected 13 rivals Saturday in the Grade 3, $750,000 Illinois Derby, is just the kind of horse Hawthorne Race Course hoped to attract when it moved the signature race of its winter-spring season back on the calendar this year.

[bc_video_id:289292:]LEXINGTON, Ky. – For a fleeting moment, Gary Contessa had visions of roses. But then Rydilluc began tiring under Edgar Prado in the final furlong of the Blue Grass Stakes, and soon it was back to reality.

That reality is turf, not dirt, as Rydilluc is out of the Kentucky Derby picture and likely will run next in the May 25 Arlington Classic or the new Penn Mile on June 1 at Penn National, Contessa said Monday.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Pinball was a 2-5 morning-line favorite for a second-level allowance restricted to New York-breds on March 15, but had to scratch from that race due to a quarter crack.

On Wednesday, he returns in a similar spot, and while he figures to be favored again, the competition for this one-mile race at Aqueduct looks a little deeper than the group he would have faced a month ago.

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Old-timers wanting to be here for an entire racing program and yet still make the early bird dinner special in town can have their wish Wednesday, when another abbreviated card is run at Keeneland.

The first of eight Wednesday races will be run at 1:05 p.m. Eastern, with the nominal feature, the sixth race, going at 3:40 and the last race at 4:42.