Keeneland: The Grade I, $750,000 Blue Grass at 1 1/8 miles Brian Nadeau of Horseplayer Now with his weekly analysis of Derby preps… #1 Heavy Breathing: Lightly raced Pletcher colt exits a game front-running effort in the GIII Spiral at Turfway Park, when he set a fast pace and held nicely to be third in…

Santa Anita: The Grade I, $750,000 Santa Anita Derby at 1 1/8 miles, by Brian Nadeau of Horseplayer Now. #1 Creative Cause: The West Coast’s pro-tem divisional leader looked good, albeit in a misbehaving sort of way, when he rallied late to win the local GII San Felipe in his last start and looms every…

Hawthorne: The Grade III, $500,000 Illinois Derby at 1 1/8 miles #1 Romancing The Gold: Son of Medallist got back on the beam last time over Aqueduct’s inner dirt, when he beat a modest optional claiming group to go 2-for-3 since stretching out to two turns for Englehart. Drew well today and is versatile enough…

Aqueduct: The Grade I, $1 million Wood Memorial at 1 1/8 miles Brian Nadeau of Horseplayer Now checks in with his analysis of New York’s premier Derby prep (its recent history notwithstanding). He’ll be back later today and tomorrow with previews of the Illinois and Santa Anita Derbies; I’ll be back with a look at the…

Brian Nadeau of Horseplayer Now offers his analysis of Sunday’s Louisiana Derby. Fair Grounds: The Grade II, $1 million Louisiana Derby at 1 1/8 miles #2 Fire Arm: Steps up off a slow optional claiming win over the track and will try graded stakes foes for the first time in what represents a monumental class jump.…

Gulfstream Park: The GI, $1 million Florida Derby at 1 1/8 miles Don’t forget to check out Brian’s analysis at his regular gig at Horseplayer Now. #1 Fort Loudon: Ran a decent fourth in the local GIII Holy Bull in his 3yo bow but came back to earth over the track in the GII Fountain…

Sunland Park: The Grade III, $800,000 Sunland Derby at 1 1/8 miles #1 Castaway: The first of two from Baffert won the slower division of Oaklawn Park’s GIII Southwest in his last and figures to be a major pace player from this cozy rail draw. Son of Derby winner Street Sense really came to hand…

Turfway Park: The Grade III, $500,000 Spiral at 1 1/18 miles #1 Russian Greek: Hollendorfer charge disappointed in a highly rated renewal of the GIII El Camino Real at Golden Gate in his last start and now adds blinkers as he ships out of town looking for some graded money. The hood should put some…

Oaklawn Park: The Grade II, $500,000 Southwest at 1 1/16 miles #2 Unbridled’s Note: Looked good winning his debut at Churchill Downs last October and entered the first division of the local GIII Southwest as a hot horse in his seasonal debut, but had a rough trip and finished a well-beaten 9th. Asmussen forges on,…

Tampa Bay Downs: The Grade II, $350,000 Tampa Bay Derby at 1 1/16 miles #1 Prospective: Runner-up in the track and distance GIII Sam Davis to fellow entrant Battle Hardened adds blinkers today to gain a little more speed early on, as he’s been dropping a bit too far out of it during the first…