OLDSMAR, Fla. – An outsider named Quip ran himself right into the Kentucky Derby picture Saturday when getting a perfect trip under Florent Geroux in a 19-1 upset of the Grade 2, $355,000 Tampa Bay Derby, the annual signature event at Tampa Bay Downs. Quip earned 50 qualifying points toward the Kentucky Derby and thereby gives WinStar Farm and their partners yet another hopeful for the May 5 classic. “I needed this,” trainer Rodolphe Brisset told WinStar president Elliott Walden in the joyful aftermath of the Tampa Bay Derby. “This is big.” Quip was away alertly from post 8 in the field of nine 3-year-olds to assume a prime stalking spot just outside of World of Trouble, the 8-5 favorite in the 1 1/16-mile race. Nearing the quarter-pole, the top two had a few lengths on Flameaway as the rest of the field dropped out of contention. Approaching the sixteenth pole, with Geroux giving Quip a couple of left-handed smacks, they made the lead, finishing a length ahead of late-running Flameaway as World of Trouble faded to third, another neck back. It was 4 3/4 more lengths back to Vino Rosso, the 2-1 second choice. Then came Tiz Mischief, Untamed Domain, Caloric, Arazi Like Move, and Grandpa Knows Best. Enticed and Free Drop Billy were early scratches, as expected, to run instead Saturday in the Gotham at Aqueduct, where they finished first and third, respectively. :: ROAD TO THE KENTUCKY DERBY: Prep races, point standings, replays Quip returned $40.20 after finishing in 1:44.72 over a fast track, well off the stakes mark of 1:42.36 set last year by Tapwrit. “We always felt he was a nice horse,” said Walden. “He’s on the Derby trail now, yes sir. We’ll enjoy this one and think about what’s right for his next start.” WinStar and partners already have Audible, Justify, Noble Indy, National Flag, and New York Central as possible contenders for the Kentucky Derby. Quip’s ownership group consists of WinStar, China Horse Club, and SF Racing. Quip, a WinStar homebred by Distorted Humor, began his career with two wins, then had gone unraced after finishing seventh in the Nov. 25 Kentucky Jockey Club at Churchill Downs in his third start. Brisset had the colt at his winter base, Fair Grounds in New Orleans, prior to sending him here Feb. 26, where the colt was sent through his final pre-race work Monday with a half-mile blowout. The victory was easily the biggest in the nascent training career of Brisset, a former Bill Mott assistant who went out on his own last spring and exercises many of his own trainees, most notably Quip. Brisset, 34, is close friends with Geroux, with both hailing from France. “I’m not sure if we had him 100 percent, but he was fit enough to win today and that’s the main thing,” said Brisset. For Geroux, the victory continues the start to another great year, as he was the winning rider on the now-retired Gun Runner in the $16 million Pegasus World Cup on Jan. 27. “I’ve always known [Quip] had talent,” said Geroux. “Rodolphe rides him in the morning, and he said he was doing fantastic. It seemed like he handled the track very well.” Run as darkness beckoned late on a cool and cloudy afternoon, World of Trouble and jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. went in fractions of 24.54, 49.48, and 1:13.78 when making his first start around two turns. The Florida-bred Kantharos colt clung grimly to the lead until just inside the furlong grounds, where Quip got the best of him and Flameaway nudged past him in the last few strides. Flameaway, a four-time stakes winner, earned 20 more Kentucky Derby qualifying points after getting 10 for winning the Feb. 10 Sam F. Davis at Tampa and would seem safely above the cutline to make the 20-horse Derby cutoff. Vino Rosso, who was the favorite until the last cycle or two of wagering, had no mishap, saving ground while in a good spot under John Velazquez before failing to keep up with the top three as they raced through the final turn. He is trained by Todd Pletcher, who had won four of the last five runnings of the Tampa Bay Derby, including the last three. Only one Tampa Bay Derby winner, Street Sense (2007), has gone on to win the Kentucky Derby, although Super Saver (2010) ran a close third in this race prior to capturing the roses for WinStar. The $2 exacta (10-5) paid $302, the $1 trifecta (10-5-8) returned $555.20, and the 10-cent superfecta (10-5-8-3) was worth $125.50. The Tampa Bay Derby, sponsored by Lambholm South, anchored a Festival Day card as the last of five consecutive stakes. It ended a 50-cent pick five (7-7-3-5-10) that paid $4,646.10 on handle of $464,693. All-sources handle on the 12-race card was $14,859,632, easily an all-time track record that eclipsed the $12,250,446 bet on the 2016 Tampa Bay Derby card. Ontrack attendance was 10,236.