Notes: March 7

- I’m bummed about Proud Accolade being scratched from the Louisiana Derby Saturday; as hot as Pletcher is, this was a horse I was looking forward to taking a stand against in this race. And don’t feel bad for Pletcher, he had 17 of the 113 early nominations, so he’ll just go with Vicarage instead. [Daily Racing Form],but from a betting standpoint, I'm looking a little less forward to the race than I was before. I am starting to get a little excited about Kansas City Boy, who worked five furlongs on Sunday at Gulfstream in 58.20 seconds, the best time of 22 at the distance. [DRF]

- Mike Watchmaker and Jay Privman of the Form (the former subscription only) have the Beyers for the races this past weekend; and they went like this: Declan’s Moon - 96; Lost in the Fog -105; High Fly - 99; and the best was Afleet Alex with a 106, and Watchmaker points out that he also went out an additional furlong after the race in a time equivalent to what Lost in the Fog drove home in in the Swale, and did so off only two published workouts this year. He also questions Declan's Moon because of his relatively low Beyer, but I think that the fig understates his race given his wide trip, layoff, and relatively easy conquest of two quality opponents.

- Bandini was kind of overlooked a bit on Saturday; He had the dreaded 3 wide both turns trip and closed well to finish within a length of High Fly, whom Bailey fit quite well. But I dunno, I just can't get excited about High Fly, especially compared to any of the other three Zito contenders, even the one, Noble Causeway, who hasn't even yet tried stakes horses. Pletcher will point Bandini towards the Florida Derby and may add blinkers. He validated his quality in his first stakes try; he and the winner just outclassed the others.

- What happened to Sort It Out, the New York-bred colt that Stonerside bought and gave to Baffert? Originally headed for the Louisiana Derby, last I read of him Baffert was saying "He's had a hard winter in New York," said Baffert. "I think we might give him a bit of a rest before we do anything with him." [ESPN]