Central -- Ken and Sarah Ramsey's unbeaten Badge of Silver took a few days off following his dazzling 10-length romp in the Risen Star (Grade III), but returned to the track at the Fair Grounds Saturday morning to resume his preparation for his next stop on the road to Churchill Downs and Kentucky Derby 129.

That race could be the $750,000 Louisiana Derby (GII) on March 9, which seemed a certainty after Badge of Silver's romp in the Risen Star. But that certainty seemed to be swept aside when Ken Ramsey said that the son of Silver Deputy could skip the Louisiana race and use the Illinois Derby (GII) on April 5 as his only remaining Derby prep.

Ramsey told the New Orleans Times-Picayune that Werner would decide where the colt runs next -- but said his trainer's "options are completely open" on what that race should be.

"I told him I'm behind him 100 percent," Ramsey said. "Whatever Ronny wants to do with the horse is fine with me."

Werner said the Louisiana Derby is "still the goal, but Badge of Silver will be the one that tells us that."

The spacing of the Louisiana and Illinois Derby route to the Kentucky Derby is attractive to Werner, but he said that he plans to nominate Badge of Silver to all of the remaining major Derby preps.

"All these Derbies are great Derbies," said Werner. "The Louisiana Derby is a great derby. No offense to the others, but everybody knows that you're trying to get to the one Derby (Kentucky)."

The 32nd running of the $500,000 Lane's End Stakes (GII) on March 22 at Turfway Park has attracted 142 nominees -- including a half-dozen 3-year-olds trained by Ireland's Aidan O'Brien.

Horses nominated to the 1 1/16-mile Kentucky Derby prep include many of last year's top 2-year-old stars, including Champagne (GI) and Hollywood Futurity (GI) winner Toccet and Lane's End Breeders' Futurity (GII) winner Sky Mesa.

Hutcheson (GII) winner Lion Tamer is one 14 horses nominated by Todd Pletcher, who led all trainers in nominations to the Lane's End.

O'Brien's half-dozen Irish-based nominees includes Hold That Tiger, the third-place finisher in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile (GI). Owner Michael Tabor had indicated earlier that Hold That Tiger would be pointed to England's Epsom Derby rather than the Kentucky Derby.

Tomahawk, Marino Marini, Delacroix, Some Kind Of Tiger, and Warhol were also nominated by O'Brien Notably absent from his group is Van Nistelrooy, who was fifth in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile.

Southeast -- A victory in Friday's Palm Beach Stakes (GIII) on the Gulfstream Park turf continued an unbeaten streak on grass for Ken and Sarah Ramsey's Nothing To Lose ($5.20). Now the colt will get a chance to show if he can switch to the main track and become a contender for the Kentucky Derby.

Nothing To Lose overcame traffic problems to win the Palm Beach by a half-length under jockey Jerry Bailey. White Cat finished second and Imitation was third. The D. Wayne Lukas-trained son of turf champion Sky Classic is now 4-for-4 on the grass and has earned $166,010.

Lukas is now expected to point Nothing To Lose to a run on the dirt in the Lane's End Stakes at Turfway Park on March 22. A good effort there could earn the colt a prominent spot on the road to the Kentucky Derby.

"The bigger turf races don't happen until later this year," said Mike Maker, Lukas' assistant trainer who saddled Nothing To Lose. "So we'll probably run him on the dirt. That's been the plan for this year."

Trainer Patrick Byrne may have a Kentucky Derby hopeful in his barn in Serengeti Stable's Eugene's Third Son, who won a 1 1/8-mile allowance race on Saturday at Gulfstream Park. The son of Indian Charlie won by 1 3/4-lengths over Formal Attire under jockey Pat Day.

"It was a good effort," Byrne told Daily Racing Form. "It gives us aspirations."

Olga Paradise's White Buck ($56.40) charged through a rainstorm to score an upset in Saturday's $50,000 Sam F. Davis Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs, the track's major prep for the Tampa Bay Derby (GIII).

Jockey Roger Velez guided the 27-1 longshot to a neck victory over 29-1 risk Freedom Lane and covered 1 1/16 miles on a "sloppy" track in 1:45.47. Coach Jimi Lee was third and Risky Cat finished fourth.

West -- Trainer Bob Baffert's surprise move to shift Donald Dizney's Apalachian Thunder from the Kentucky Derby trail to the grass in Sunday's Baldwin (GIII) at Santa Anita fell short of its desired result as Northern California invader Buddy Gil ($55.40) scored an upset win.

The Jeff Mullins-trained son of Eastern Echo rallied under jockey Gary Stevens to win by two lengths over his Mullins-trained stablemate King Robyn and Flirt With Fortune. The favored Apalachian Thunder finished fourth under Victor Espinoza.

In winning his turf debut and his first race for Mullins, Buddy Gil improved his record to 3-1-1 in seven races. The winner, who finished seventh in the Golden Gate Derby (GIII) in his most recent race, is not nominated to the Kentucky Derby and the Visa Triple Crown.

Daily Racing Form reported that Dennis Weir's Siberland will miss Saturday's San Rafael (GII) at Santa Anita after the colt pulled up poorly following a workout last week at the Southern California track.

Trainer Kevin Lewis said the colt was scheduled to undergo nuclear scan tests over the weekend.

"He's a little off behind," said Lewis. "He worked awesome, but he was a little funny afterwards."

Siberland, the runner-up in the Turf Paradise Derby, was listed among the 23 individual wagering interests in Pool 1 of the Kentucky Derby Future Wager. He closed as the longest shot in Pool 1 at 114-1.

San Miguel (GIII) winner Omega Code heads the list possible starters in the San Rafael. Others include Spensive, Excessivepleasure, Just Wonder and Sum Trick.

Other candidates include Indian Express, an unbeaten Panamanian import now trained by Bob Baffert, and the Bobby Frankel-trained Peace Rules, winner of Hollywood Park's Generous (GIII) on turf.

East -- Richard L. Golden's Second In Command ($40) skipped over a sloppy track at Aqueduct for a surprising front-running win in Saturday's $82,800 Best Turn Stakes and may have earned a spot in the starting gate for the $200,000 Gotham (GIII) on March 16.

The Linda Rice-trained son of Silver Deputy won by 8 3/4-lengths over Super Fuse and third-place finisher Mustbeinthefrontrow. Favored Alysweep finished sixth in the field of eight 3-year-olds. The winner covered six furlongs on the sloppy inner track at Aqueduct in 1:10.68 under jockey Jean-Luc Samyn.

"He loved it out there," said Samyn. "We were kicking dirt in their faces rather than getting dirt kicked in ours."

"It was a big effort for him," said Rice. "We told Jean-Luc to that if he broke on top to just go to the lead. He has had trouble in his last two (races). He really got a nice ride from Jean-Luc."

Second In Command is not nominated to the Kentucky Derby and the Visa Triple Crown.

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