SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – The path of Hurricane Laura as it turns toward the East Coast over the weekend could be the deciding factor as to whether Firenze Fire is in the starting gate here for Saturday’s Grade 1 Forego.

DEL MAR, Calif. – If the waiting is the hardest part, as the late Tom Petty opined, then training for this year’s Kentucky Derby has brought an unprecedented challenge.

WHO’S HOT

There have been no adjustments to the Derby Watch top 20 lineup or the odds penned by Daily Racing Form’s Marty McGee since last week. Tiz the Law remains the 6-5 favorite. Assuming his starting price will be no higher than 9-5, he will be the first horse to go off at less than 2-1 in the Derby since Point Given in 2001. The last odds-on favorite was Arazi in 1992. Entries for the Derby are to be taken Tuesday morning, and posts drawn later that morning.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Jockey Rafael Bejarano will miss the last three days of the Runhappy meet at Ellis Park in western Kentucky while still recovering from Aug. 12 surgery to have a small, benign growth removed from his pancreas. Bejarano will be ready for opening day at Churchill Downs, said his agent, Julio Espinoza.

“We just didn’t want to push it,” said Espinoza, who had hoped to have Bejarano back by Friday. “He’s been running and exercising, feeling really good.”

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – As contenders for the 146th Kentucky Derby continue to settle into the stable area at Churchill Downs, the final round of breezes for the Sept. 5 race are set for a busy coming weekend – both at Churchill and elsewhere.

Tiz the Law, expected to be the heaviest Derby favorite since Arazi was 9-10 in 1992, is scheduled to work Sunday at Saratoga before being flown Monday to Louisville via equine charter. The New York-bred colt, winner of the Belmont Stakes and Runhappy Travers, will be bedded down in Barn 20 upon his arrival at Churchill.

Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs, Ark., on Wednesday announced a record racing program for 2021 led by a slate of 33 stakes races worth a cumulative $11 million.

There are four $1 million offerings – the Rebel, Arkansas Derby, Oaklawn Handicap, and Apple Blossom – while the minimum stakes purse will be $150,000.

The threat of Hurricane Laura has led Delta Downs in Vinton, La., to evacuate its property and Evangeline Downs in Opelousas, La., to cancel workouts and racing for both Wednesday and Thursday.

The storm is in the Gulf of Mexico and, according to multiple reports, is on a path to hit coastlines in Louisiana and Texas. Hurricane Laura is forecast to arrive after midnight Wednesday.

ETOBICOKE, Ontario – A host of races scheduled for the inner turf in the coming weeks have been transferred to either the main turf or the Tapeta due to upkeep that will be performed on the seven-furlong course. Some races scheduled for the inner turf have been listed with an alternative surface in case the maintenance is ongoing when they are held.

Brian House, a trainer who raced primarily in the Midwest and Southwest circuits but who raced for the first time this year in Saratoga, died Friday at his home in Lexington, Ky., after a bout with cancer. He was 58.

According to his wife Stacy, Brian House worked for the legendary trainer Charlie Whittingham when he had Sunday Silence and Ferdinand. Stacy House said her husband was aboard Ferdinand for his last workout before he won the 1986 Kentucky Derby.

Kleptomaniac, second in a division of Sunday’s All American Derby trials at Ruidoso Downs, won a random shake Monday to gain a berth in the $1,077,688 final on Sept. 6.

Kleptomaniac was timed in 21.549 seconds in the 440-yard trial. Perrys Double Down was third in a division of the trials and also recorded a time of 21.549, leading to Monday’s draw.

Kleptomaniac will be a longshot in the All American Derby, a race led by the first three finishers of the Rainbow Derby in July – Cers Final Try, Hotsempting, and Gold Heart Eagle V.