Horse Racing News by Steve Haskin

Trainer D. Wayne Lukas has put together a formidable team of jockeys to ride his three starters in the 138th Preakness Stakes May 18.

David Wilkenfeld's Vyjack, who came out of his first career defeat in the Wood Memorial with a lung infection, has been enjoying his stay at the Fair Hill Equine Therapy Center, where he is having regular treatments in the hyperbaric chamber.

Wayne Lukas, Bob Baffert, Todd Pletcher. Three titans of the turf will go to battle in the $1 million Arkansas Derby Apr. 6 at Oaklawn Park in an attempt to strengthen their forces for the ultimate conflict, the May 4 Kentucky Derby.

Gary and Mary West's Flashback, second in the Santa Anita Derby, came out of the race with a small chip in his right knee and will be sent to Rood & Riddle April 10 to have the chip removed, trainer Bob Baffert said April 7.

All the buzz April 6 at Aqueduct Racetrack will be about two of racing's unbeaten 3-year-olds, Verrazano and Vyjack, who attempt to take that final step on the long road to the Kentucky Derby when they face off in the $1 million Wood Memorial.

The experiment to try Little Mike on Meydan's Tapeta surface didn't turn out quite as well as expected for trainer Dale Romans, but the 6-year-old son of Spanish Steps did get the acclimatization needed for his return to the grass in the Dubai Duty.

Verrazano was the favored individual horse in the final of three Kentucky Derby Future Wager pools for 2013, but the field entry emerged as the overall pick once again for this year's Run for the Roses.

Janis Whitham's homebred Fort Larned, who has not started since his gutsy victory in the Nov. 3 Breeders' Cup Classic, will face just five opponents when he makes his 5-year-old debut March 9 in the $300,000 Gulfstream Park Handicap.

It's not every day you see a 7-year-old horse and an 8-year-old horse competing in a Grade 1 stakes. In fact, it's rare to see accomplished horses that age running anywhere in this era of horses being rushed off to stud.

The last time trainer Dave Cotey developed a top 2-year-old in Canada and gave him up to a big-name U.S. trainer was in 2008 when he captured three stakes, with Mine That Bird, who wound up in California with Richard Mandella.