Date/Time: Saturday, March 26 / 4:30-5:30 p.m. eastern live on ESPN

Race Coverage: Lane's End Stakes (live), Rushaway Stakes (live), Dubai World Cup (tape delay), UAE Derby (tape delay)

On The Air: CITGO Racing to the Kentucky Derby puts a strand of Kentucky Blue Grass between its teeth Saturday with the Grade 2 $500,000 Lane's End Stakes from Turfway Park. The season's first major Derby prep in Kentucky could be the next-to-last stop on the road to Louisville for the race's top three-year-olds. Turfway's $100,000 Rushaway Stakes for late-blooming sophomores also will be shown live.

The program includes same-day coverage of the world's richest horserace, the $6 million Dubai World Cup, and the richest Kentucky Derby prep, the $2 million United Arab Emirates Derby. Both high-dollar races will be held Saturday morning (US time) at Nad al Sheba Racecourse.

Broadcast Team: ESPN's Kenny Mayne takes his microphone and wallet railside to Turfway Park, where he'll be joined by analyst Randy Moss and reporter Jeannine Edwards.

Star Power: Hall of Fame riders Jerry Bailey and Gary Stevens head to Florence for leading engagements. Bailey rides the Patrick Byrne-trained Magna Graduate, hero of the top local prep in the Battaglia Memorial. Stevens continues his solid spring with trainer Patrick Biancone aboard Spanish Chestnut, winner of the Grade 2 San Rafael and likely post-time favorite Saturday.

If Mayan King wins the Lane's End, expect to hear "I Think I Love You" hummed around the winner's circle by his co-owner, none other than former Partridge Family bell-bottomer David Cassidy. Mayan King is a son of 1999 Lane's End winner Stephen Got Even.

Nick Zito has had all the love this spring, with no less than five Kentucky Derby hopefuls in his shedrow. Andromeda's Hero, winner of the Sam F. Davis at Tampa Bay Downs last time out, will try to move up Zito's depth chart in his graded stakes debut. Meanwhile, Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas continues his superb spring with Silent Bid, a longshot who will try to become DWL's third Lane's End winner.

Todd Pletcher will be represented in the Lane's End by fresh face Flower Alley and in the Rushaway by Proud Accolade.

For a bit of added star power, Saturday's Dubai World Cup features Grade 1 winner and Breeders' Cup Classic runner-up Roses In May, while the UAE Derby spotlights Godolphin's leading Kentucky Derby hopeful Shamardal, a son of Giant's Causeway who is making his three-year-old debut after dominating three English grass sprints at age two.

Keep An Eye On: Whether Spanish Chestnut will settle on the lead or continue guns a-blazing as he has in past races. None of his rivals appear to possess his natural early speed and most want to sit second or third, giving him a major advantage in the race if he can relax. But any jockey who decides to press the gas pedal on one of the pressers will challenge Spanish Chestnut to show some front-running grit. The head-strong colt was able to out-sprint Texcess and win the San Rafael wire-to-wire, but that was at a flat mile and against only four rivals. A big field Saturday brings new challenges to a horse who tired late in the 1-1/16 miles Santa Catalina most recently. If Spanish Chestnut passes this test at 1-1/8 miles, against a large field, and with any pace pressure whatsoever, he will be one to seriously watch on the Derby trail.

Facts and Figures: The Lane's End Stakes has produced one Kentucky Derby winner in its history (Lil E. Tee, 1992)…Overall, 46 horses have used the Lane's End Stakes in their route to the Kentucky Derby, most recently Birdstone a year ago, who fizzled at Turfway and Churchill before denying Smarty Jones the Triple Crown in the Belmont Stakes...Three Lane's End alumni have gone on to Preakness glory, Summer Squall ('90), Hansel ('91) and Prairie Bayou ('93). Hansel also added the '91 Belmont to his trophy case...Trainer Paul Aguirre will take the blinkers off California invader Texcess in the Lane's End…Trainer Kenny McPeek will be in Dubai to saddle Prince Arch in the $2 million Dubai Sheema Classic, scrambling for a hotel with ESPN to watch his duo of Diamond Isle and Wild Desert compete in the Lane's End…The Dubai World Cup features expatriated Americans Dynever, Ruler's Court and Grande Hombre, as well as US invaders Roses In May, Congrats, Lundy's Liability and Choctaw Nation.

Fact or Fiction: For all of his ballyhooed two-year-olds a year ago, trainer Todd Pletcher could be down to one serious Derby bullet by the end of Saturday. Pletcher's outstanding sophomore Bandini is preparing for the Florida Derby and certainly looks the part. But who else in the barn has designs on Kentucky? Grade 1 winner Proud Accolade tries to re-fire his jets in the Rushaway on Saturday, a 1-1/16 miles test that some think will be the limit of his distance abilities. He should be a very short price in the Rushaway and must win convincingly to advance on the Derby trail. Gulfstream Park maiden winner Flower Alley (by Distorted Humor of Funny Cide fame) gets his first taste of life in the stakes lane in the Lane's End. With just two starts under his belt, Saturday's race is an elimination round for Derby consideration.

Pletcher also has Louisiana Derby runner-up Vicarage under his care, and he could resurface in the Blue Grass at Keeneland.

Go To The Windows: Jerry Bailey should be a perfect fit aboard Magna Graduate, a horse who is faithfully in the mix at the head of the lane. It's the kind of mount Bailey nearly always moves forward by a few lengths. While he won't be a huge price, he will be rock-steady around 7-to-2. Of the horses closest early on to Spanish Chestnut, he's the most likely to be around late.

Late-running closers Andromeda's Hero, Diamond Alley and Wild Desert stand to benefit if the pace becomes too hotly contested. Wild Desert rates a huge chance under Robby Albarado. He was ambitiously placed in the Fountain of Youth in his 2005 comeback race, encountered a world of trouble and was the only horse closing ground. His solid third to Greater Good last fall sure looks better on paper now that Greater Good outran Rockport Harbor and Afleet Alex in Oaklawn's Rebel last weekend.

We'll go with the heavy exacta box of Magna Graduate and Wild Desert, and a small trifecta back-up play with Spanish Chestnut holding second and splitting the top two selections.

Up Next: CITGO Racing to the Kentucky Derby returns next Saturday, April 2 with live coverage of the Grade 1 $1 million Florida Derby from Gulfstream Park (5-6 p.m. live on ABC Sports). Join ABC's Terry Gannon, along with Randy Moss, Jeannine Edwards and Hammerin' Hank Goldberg for the rematch between Fountain of Youth Stakes one-two finishers High Fly and Bandini.

Also next Saturday, April 2, CITGO Racing to the Kentucky Derby will provide a nightcap with a one-hour telecast of the $500,000 WinStar Derby from Sunland Park in New Mexico (7-8 p.m. live on ESPN2).California invader Southern Africa, who shipped in to win the Borderland Derby at Sunland in late February, is expected to be one of the favorites.