A capacity field of 12 3-year-olds is expected when entries are taken Wednesday for the Grade 2 Tampa Bay Derby, to be run Saturday for the 41st time at Tampa Bay Downs in Oldsmar, Fla.

Candy Man Rocket, winner of the Feb. 6 Sam F. Davis at Tampa, figures as a lukewarm favorite in the $350,000 Tampa Derby, a 1 1/16-mile race that offers Kentucky Derby qualifying points on a 50-20-10-5 scale. It’s one of three Derby preps set for a busy Saturday across the country, along with the Gotham at Aqueduct and the San Felipe at Santa Anita.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Gulfstream Park’s leading rider Irad Ortiz Jr. was fined $1,000 and placed on probation for the remainder of the meet along with fellow jockey Paco Lopez after the two engaged in an altercation following the fourth race here Friday.

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Wendell Fong got a little freshening on a farm following his upset victory in the Fire Plug Stakes at Laurel Park on Jan. 16. After returning to Belmont and the worktab, Wendell Fong was deemed ready to go back at it in Saturday’s Grade 3, $200,000 Tom Fool Handicap at Aqueduct.

Trainer Natalia Lynch said the Tom Fool was an afterthought until she breezed him a half-mile in 50.40 seconds on Friday at Belmont.

“I let him breeze to see about his fitness and he did it pretty well,” Lynch said. “I was letting him tell me if he wants to [run] or not.”

Trainer Tony Dutrow believes he’ll find out a little more about Miss Brazil when she runs in Saturday’s $250,000 Busher Invitational than he did when she beat two rivals in last month’s Ruthless Stakes. What Dutrow believes he already knows is he’ll see the best of what Miss Brazil has when she tries a mile for the first time in the Busher.

“Physically, mentally, I do not think she could be doing any better,” Dutrow said. “She is ready in every way to show what she is.”

OZONE PARK, N.Y.  - That Harold Wyner is cutting Capo Kane back to a one-turn mile in Saturday’s Grade 3, $300,000 Gotham Stakes at Aqueduct doesn’t mean he’s giving up on trying to get to the Kentucky Derby.

“I still believe he’s a horse that can go a mile and an eighth, mile and a quarter,” Wyner said Sunday.

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - Mystic Guide earned a preliminary Beyer Speed Figure of 108 for his Saturday win in the Grade 3, $600,000 Razorback Handicap at Oaklawn Park, tying the highest assigned to a horse so far in 2021.

Knicks Go earned a 108 Beyer for his win in the Grade 1 Pegasus World Cup Invitational in January at Gulfstream Park, after also getting a 108 in the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile in November 2020.

Mystic Guide earned the number in his seventh career start in the Razorback. He emerged from the race with good energy according to his trainer, Michael Stidham.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Barring a setback, it will be on to the Grade 1 Florida Derby here March 27 for Greatest Honour, the courageous winner of Saturday’s Grade 2 Fountain of Youth.

Greatest Honour's competition will likely include two formidable new shooters: the graded stakes-placed Known Agenda and exciting maiden winner Collaborate.

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - Champion Essential Quality emerged from his win in the Grade 3, $750,000 Southwest at Oaklawn Park in good order, trainer Brad Cox said Sunday, while plans for the horse’s final Kentucky Derby prep race are still being determined.

Essential Quality made his 3-year-old debut in the Southwest. He stalked the pace, moved to the fore into the stretch and barreled home to remain undefeated in four career starts. The start was his first since the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile on Nov. 6, and for the effort he earned a preliminary, career-high Beyer Speed Figure of 96.

ARCADIA, Calif. – When it comes to natural talent, there’s no better 3-year-old in California this year than Life Is Good. The key with him going forward, though, is trying to harness his inclination to go too fast too soon, and that’s what his morning lessons have been designed to teach in recent weeks.

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - Jackie’s Warrior will cut back to one turn for his next start following a third-place finish in Saturday's Grade 3, $750,000 Southwest Stakes at Oaklawn Park, trainer Steve Asmussen said Sunday.

Asmussen said Jackie’s Warrior will target the Pat Day Mile at Churchill Downs.

Jackie’s Warrior on Saturday set the pace in the Southwest Stakes, which was his second start at two turns following a fourth-place finish in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile.