Churchill Downs

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The four of them will be sitting on Millionaires Row, which only begins to hint at their real worth, and rooting for a horse named Normandy Invasion. "If he's as lucky as the rest of us," said 90-year-old Ray Woods, with a nod toward his friends, "he'll win. " Woods and the others will be rooting for Rick Porter's bay at the Kentucky Derby on Saturday because of what the horse owner has done for vets. For most of his 20 years in the business, the ex-soldier has been naming horses to honor veterans.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - It was shortly after 7 a.m. Sunday, barely 12 hours after a Kentucky Derby that had been six months in the planning went very wrong in less than a second. Michael Matz was walking a horse named Welcome Dance around the Barn 42 shedrow, passing a sedate Union Rags, peering out from his stall. As he rounded the corner, Matz called back over his shoulder: "We did everything we wanted except the last two minutes, and that was the part we couldn't help. " In horse racing, you can be prepared, organized, and make rational decisions.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Bob Baffert won't be saddling a horse in the Kentucky Derby, for the first time since 2008. The Hall of Fame trainer said Monday that Govenor Charlie would not run in Saturday's Run for the Roses. His other possibility, Code West, also won't compete in the Derby at Churchill Downs. Sunland Derby winner Govenor Charlie was 11th on the points leaderboard that determines the 20-horse field for the 11/4-mile race. Code West was ranked 21st. Baffert hasn't been on the Derby sidelines since 2007 and 2008.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Prayer for Relief has been scratched from the $5 million Breeders' Cup Classic on Saturday at Churchill Downs. Breeders' Cup officials said Tuesday that the 3-year-old colt has developed a fever and will remain in California at trainer Bob Baffert's barn. Prayer for Relief started the season with four straight wins, including the Iowa Derby, the West Virginia Derby and the Super Derby at Louisiana Downs. His lone loss of the campaign came in his last start, a third-place finish in the Oklahoma Derby.

UNION RAGS HAS been relaxing in South Florida since the day after his dramatic late run in the Nov. 5 Breeders' Cup Juvenile at Churchill Downs fell just short. The first loss of his career did not change the colt's status as the early favorite for the 2012 Kentucky Derby. While Union Rags gets some rest and time to grow, trainer Michael Matz has mapped out a two-race plan to get the colt back to Churchill for the May 5 Derby. Matz is looking at the $400,000 Fountain of Youth Stakes on Sunday, Feb. 26, and the $1 million Florida Derby on Saturday, March 31. Both races are at Gulfstream Park.

May 5 at Churchill Downs     1. Union Rags           Michael Matz    Julien Leparoux       9-2 Should be as fresh as any Derby horse following third-place finish in Florida Derby on March 31. Worked 4 furlongs in 47.40 seconds Friday at Keeneland. Will work one more time at Churchill before race. 2. Gemologist           Todd Pletcher     Javier Castellano    12-1 Wood Memorial winner is looking to become eighth unbeaten Derby winner.

Atlantic City Race Course will offer the first of 71 live programs this evening, opening a meet highlighted by the $500,000 Caesars International Handicap on June 27. Racing is scheduled to begin at 7:25 nightly with a Tuesday through Saturday agenda. The only exception will be on Sunday, June 27, when both the Caesars and the $100,000 Jersey Shore Budweiser Breeders' Cup will be slated with national television coverage provided by NBC. Last year's Caesars was captured by grass champion Sky Classic under Pat Day. The $100,000 Matchmaker Stakes at 1 3/16 miles on the turf will be contested July 14 with stallion services to Demons Begone, Ferdinand and Simply Majestic offered to the first three finishers.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - From a sixth-floor balcony above the finish line at Churchill Downs, Chadds Ford's Phyllis Wyeth strained to find her horse through her binoculars as the field of the 138th Kentucky Derby passed by the first time. Wyeth's view was partially obstructed, and maybe that was for the best. She asked her husband, where is he? "Way back there," Jamie Wyeth said when he finally spotted Union Rags. " Way back there. " His odds of winning had evaporated before Union Rags even got running.

Kentucky Derby winner Orb pleased trainer Shug McGaughey on Thursday with a steady workout on a sloppy track at Belmont Park. "He jogged three-eighths to a half-mile and galloped a mile. I thought everything was good," said McGaughey, whose colt had jogged a mile Wednesday at the track in Elmont, N.Y., in his first workout since his 21/2-length victory at Churchill Downs on Saturday. "The track was still sloppy," he said. "[Exercise rider Jenn Patterson] said he was kind of bucking and playing and jumping the water puddles on the backstretch.