NEW ORLEANS, LA -- Al Stall Jr. stood by the rail at Fair Grounds one January morning and watched a big bay colt go through his paces. The trainer didn't talk much about this runner's potential, but the look in his eyes said it all.

Three weeks later, Bind broke his maiden in impressive fashion, 9 ½ lengths the best of the competition. It was February 19. Was that a gleam of Derby fever in Stall's eyes after the win? It most certainly was not.

"If you all get (owner) Seth (Hancock) to do it, I'll ride that train, but I'm not going to ask him," Stall joked with members of the media, who are always quick to pose the hypothetical question. "He's a good horse, he's gonna fit in somewhere, but the last thing we want to do is tear him up. There's a lot of stuff down the road."

Reporters, of course, saw flashes of Blame, the Stall trainee who missed the Triple Crown trail with a foot abscess but came back for a strong 4-year-old year culminating in a victory in the 2010 Breeders' Cup Classic.

"Once he leveled out, it was all over," Stall said. "That bodes well for two turns, that's for sure."

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Thoughts and prayers of the racing community were with jockey Eibar Coa Saturday evening as he recovered from a lengthy surgery on a fractured C-4 vertebrae, injuries incurred in a racing accident Friday at Gulfstream Park. At Fair Grounds, trainer Kathy Ritvo dedicated the Grade 2 Risen Star Stakes victory of 3-year-old Kentucky Derby hopeful Mucho Macho Man to the 40-year-old rider, who had been aboard for three of the colt's four starts.

Rajiv Maragh filled in for the injured Coa on Saturday, piloting Mucho Macho Man to a 1 ½-length score over Santiva. Rogue Romance was third. All of the top three finishers will return to training in Florida, and all three trainers said future starts were to be determined. No one ruled out a start in the March 26 Louisiana Derby, but no one committed to it at the time.

Jockey Mike Smith, who flew in from California to ride Santiva, said his colt should not be discounted from the Derby picture.

"He was just a little too fresh, and if I kept him up next to the other horses he was going to keep pulling, so I kind of got him away just to get him to drop the bit and he did, and then I eased back down to them," Smith said. "We've got a good race under our belt now."

Leparoux, the rider of Rogue Romance, also thought his colt could continue on the Derby trail.

"He ran a good race and finished strong; he's ready for the next one," he said.

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Although trainer Ken McPeek missed the Risen Star score with third-place finisher Rogue Romance, he took the Grade 3 Rachel Alexandra Stakes with 3-year-old filly Kathmanblu, who now carries a three-race win streak forward toward a potential start in the Kentucky Oaks.

"She's all class," said McPeek, "she always has been. I think she is a lot better than she ran today. We were a little conservative with her workouts coming into the race. There's a lot of time between now and the Kentucky Oaks and that is obviously the bigger goal. She overcame everything."

The daughter of Bluegrass Cat could run in the Fair Grounds Oaks on March 26, although McPeek listed the Gulfstream Oaks and the Ashland Stakes at Keeneland as other potential starts.

"We'll take her back to Miami and Gulfstream, let her settle in, and take our time," he said. "We've got no pressure at this point. Hopefully she will dictate where we go."