Kentucky Derby prep

Lance Gasaway, 4G Racing and Daniel Hamby III's Mystik Dan (Goldencents) worked five furlongs in 1:01.80 (20/34) over a fast track at the Fair Grounds Saturday morning. Trained by Ken McPeek, the winner of the Feb. 3 GIII Southwest S. is expected to ship to Oaklawn Wednesday in advance of a tilt at the $1.5-million GI Arkansas Derby Mar. 30. McPeek opted to train Mystik Dan up to the Arkansas Derby, which could award as many as 200 qualifying points to its top five eligible finishers (100-50-25-15-10, respectively) for Kentucky...

Representing part of the group that campaigned 2018 Triple Crown winner Justify (Scat Daddy), and sharing a sire and some quirks with last year's Horse of the Year Authentic (Into Mischief), Life Is Good further asserted his position as the best of Bob Baffert's current crop of 3-year-olds Saturday, demolishing his competition in the GII San Felipe S. at Santa Anita. WinStar Farm and CHC Inc.'s 'TDN Rising Star' was a 9 1/2-length sprint winner on debut at Del Mar Nov. 22, and had been off since defeating stablemate Medina...

Patrick Biancone pulled off the improbable last Saturday in the GII Fountain of Youth S. at Gulfstream, winning a major prep for the GI Kentucky Derby with a horse who cost relatively little at the sales and appeared headed for a career on the grass. Now, can he do it all over again? A week after Ete Indien (Summer Front) won the Fountain of Youth, Sole Volante (Karakontie {Jpn}) will look to emulate his stablemate with a win in the GII Tampa Bay Derby. The similarities with the two are...