Ron Correll
Senior Columnist
Tracksideview.com

The 2012 Kentucky Derby trail gets a little more crowded this weekend with the Withers at Aqueduct, the Robert Lewis at Santa Anita and the Sam F. Davis at Tampa Bay Downs. All three races are graded stakes, which is very important when a colt needs graded earnings to fill one of the 20 positions in the starting gate on the first Saturday in May at Churchill Downs.

Matt Pappis will handicap the…

Ron Correll
Senior columnist
Tracksideview.com

We’ll start the 2012 Kentucky Derby list with 10 horses until more contenders step on the track for the first time this year.

Updated Jan. 30

Algorithms (Bernardini) goes to the top of the list this week off his impressive win in the Holy Bull on Jan. 29 at Gulfstream Park.
Out of Bounds (Discreet Cat) won the Sham on Jan. 7 at Santa Anita and looks like distance will be no…

Ron Correll
Senior columnist
Tracksideview.com

The 25^th running of the Grade 3 Holy Bull Sunday at Gulfstream Park in South Florida is significant for two reason; one, it kicks off the Kentucky Derby trail in the Sunshine State, and two, it’s the 2012 debut of the Eclipse and Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Champion Hansen.

In my opinion, the latter is more important than the former in this case.

Hansen (4) was unbeaten in his three 2-year-old races and was…

Ron Correll
Senior columnist
Tracksideview.com

The 68^th running of the Lecomte Stakes on Saturday at Fair Grounds kicks off the Kentucky Derby trail in the state of Louisiana. The mile-and-seventy-yard race has drawn a field of 14 with two coupled entries.

The Grade 3 will go off as race 11 with a post time of 4:55 p.m. CST.

The first entry is Adena’s Chance (1) and Hero of Order (1a) and both are owned by Raut LLC and…

Ron Correll
Senior columnist
Tracksideview.com

The 24^th running of the Grade 3 Hal’s Hope Saturday at Gulfstream Park in South Florida will feature the return of Soaring Empire (7), the defending champion from 2011. The one-mile race on the main track is carded as race 9 and will go off at 4:17 p.m. EST.

Soaring Empire is a five-year-old son of Empire Maker and has been off since July 31 when he won the Majestic Light Stakes at…

Ron Correll
Senior columnist
Tracksideview.com

The 12^th running of the Grade 3 Sham Saturday at Santa Anita Park in Southern California will give racing fans their first look at some of the newly turned 3-year-olds on the West Coast. The one-mile affair will go off as Race 3 at 4:31 p.m. EST.

 It also will be the first route race for Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Sprint Champion Secret Circle (4). There is nothing to say that this very fast…

Ron Correll
Senior columnist
Tracksideview.com

Seven horses have signed on for the 59^th running of the Grade 3 Mr. Prospector Stakes Saturday at Gulfstream Park in South Florida, and each one has a chance at winning the race.

The six-furlong affair, run over the main track, will go off as the 11^th race on the card with a post time of 4:45 p.m. EST.

Apriority (1) drew the rail and comes into the race off a sixth in…

The next selected race for this column will be the Mr. Prospector on Dec. 31 at Gulfstream Park.

Ron Correll

Ron Correll
Senior columnist
Tracksideview.com

We’ll stick with 2-year-olds again this week and head to Laurel Park on Saturday for the Maryland Juvenile Championship at seven-and-a-half furlongs as the juvenile season winds down.

Nine colts and geldings will enter the starting gate at the track in Maryland, with a post time of 3:55 p.m. EST.

Going to Market (1) is by After Market and owned by Sagamore Farm and trained by Ignacio Correas. He is still a maiden…

Ron Correll
Senior columnist
Tracksideview.com

The Pennsylvania Nursery holds a place in racing history because that is where Smarty Jones got his stakes start on his way to winning the Kentucky Derby and Preakness in 2004 under the watchful eye of trainer John Servis.

This year’s version at PARX Racing, at the track in suburban Philadelphia, also features a Servis-trained colt, but unlike Smarty Jones he is not unbeaten. Nine 2-year-olds will go to the post at approximately…