Topic: Brad Cox

The Kentucky Derby field was set for fewer than 24 hours this weekend before one last race and one withdrawal started a shakeup process that eventually will get the 3-year-olds into the Churchill Downs starting gate May.

One of the biggest weekends of the horse racing year will find Kentucky Derby starters selected in Dubai, Florida and Arkansas, as well as some epic confrontations on the Dubai World Cup program.

The final round of Kentucky Derby preps is finally under way, with horses earning spots in the Churchill Downs starting gate in weekend action in Louisiana, Kentucky and Japan.

American racing went on the road during the weekend with events in Saudi Arabia and Dubai pinpointing the inroads Japan has made into worldwide dirt stakes.

This weekend's horse racing marquee attraction is the $400,000 Risen Star Stakes at Fair Grounds, an important steppingstone to the Kentucky Derby.

Weekend horse racing features five races with implications for the Kentucky Derby field -- but two of them have strong entries from the barn of Bob Baffert, who is banned by Churchill Downs.

Saudi Crown punched his ticket to Saudi Arabia and Track Phantom continued his march toward the Kentucky Derby.

With only 15 weeks to go to the Kentucky Derby, competition for spots in the starting gate is heating up quickly. Overseas, Dubai's second-biggest weekend of the year is on the horizon.

Horse racing is a thing of hopes and dreams, and some unlikely runners kept hopes alive for the Kentucky Derby and Oaks and even the Dubai World Cup with weekend victories.

Drum Roll Please and Muth, racing a continent apart, added their names to the Top 10 on the Road to the Kentucky Derby leaderboard in weekend action.