Thanks to the presence of Instilled Regard, who was right with some of the West’s best 3-year-olds when moved up to second in the roughly run Los Alamitos Futurity, and Principe Guilherme, who won his first two career starts like a potential star, everyone agreed Saturday’s Lecomte Stakes at Fair Grounds was likely the strongest-ever running of that early-season two-turn stepping stone for colts with Kentucky Derby aspirations. It’s nice to say that the Lecomte lived up to the advance billing, because that doesn’t always turn out to be the case. Instilled Regard was very good winning the Lecomte. He was prominent from the outset into a solid pace, which was an interesting development for an Arch colt who is entirely comfortable coming from off the pace, and he drew off late to score with complete authority. Instilled Regard’s final time of 1:42.59 for the mile and seventy yards was a substantial 1.69 seconds faster than 3-year-old fillies went the same distance in the Silverbulletday Stakes two races earlier which, while an indictment of the Silverbulletday field, also reflected well on the Lecomte winner. Instilled Regard wound up with a preliminary winning Beyer Figure of 92 (the Silverbulletday’s preliminary winning Beyer was 76), which is solid enough for a 3-year-old who is already a proven two-turn horse going two turns at this early point of the year. All this makes Instilled Regard an intriguing Kentucky Derby prospect, and given the way he won Saturday, he also flattered Solomini and McKinzie, the two he tangled with in the Los Alamitos Futurity. As for Principe Guilherme, it’s true he finished a soundly beaten second Saturday, just getting the place from the unheralded Snapper Sinclair, whose previous best work came on turf and previous best Beyer was a modest 72. However, I believe that under the circumstances, Principe Guilherme did well to finish as well as he did. Despite what Snapper Sinclair might imply, Principe Guilherme was in a much tougher, deeper field Saturday than he had faced before, he had a wider trip than Instilled Regard, and he raced much farther off the early pace than he did in his first two blowout scores. Principe Guilherme will learn a lot from this outing and be a better colt for it. I can certainly see why his people would want another shot at Instilled Regard in the Risen Star on Feb. 17. The other Derby points race Saturday was the Jerome at Aqueduct, won by the heavily favored Firenze Fire, who just got up over the game pacesetter and second choice Seven Trumpets. Firenze Fire, upset winner last fall of the Grade 1 Champagne over subsequent Breeders’ Cup Juvenile winner and likely 2-year-old male champion Good Magic, needed 1:42.88 to complete the Jerome’s mile, but believe me, don’t read a thing into that raw final time. I’ve been making my own speed figures for NYRA tracks since 1976 and if Saturday’s muddy track at Aqueduct wasn’t the slowest I’ve ever seen in New York, it was one of them. Sure enough, Firenze Fire was assigned a preliminary Beyer of 90. Since the track on which he won was almost bottomless, Firenze Fire deserves credit for his Jerome effort, as does Seven Trumpets. My one concern here is, I have a nagging suspicion that one-turn miles such as the Jerome might be Firenze Fire’s forte. I have some doubts as to whether he’s a two-turn colt. NOTES: ** Since we’re talking about 3-year-olds, I’d be remiss not to mention Magnum Moon, who was most impressive winning his debut Saturday at Gulfstream. Magnum Moon, a Malibu Moon colt trained by Todd Pletcher, ran away from what seemed like a loaded maiden special weight field to score by 4 1/2 lengths. Magnum Moon has serious ability, and I will be betting back Gambit out of this race as, after being way out of it early, he finished strongly to check in fifth, and then galloped out like a wild horse in front of everyone. ** Wonder Gadot and Heavenly Love were uncoupled Mark Casse-trained barnmates in the Silverbulletday, and I would have given more than a penny for Casse’s thoughts when the rider of Wonder Gadot rode Heavenly Love into a switch going into the far turn. It didn’t make that much of a difference considering how empty Heavenly Love was after the incident, but still. ** Oddly, Instilled Regard was 65-1 in Wynn Las Vegas’s Kentucky Derby future book prior to the Lecomte, while the two he battled with at Los Alamitos – Solomini and McKinzie – were 18-1 and 10-1, respectively. I’m sure that 65-1 is now just a memory. Despite having his 3-year-old debut delayed, Bolt d’Oro held steady at 7-1 as Wynn’s Derby favorite. Good Magic is currently 14-1. ** Some folks have taken the spate of recent weather-related cancellations at Aqueduct as proof of the folly of winter racing in New York, or as an opportunity to bash the NYRA for doing away with Aqueduct’s inner track in favor of a second turf course. I disagree on both counts. The northeast went through an artic outbreak of historic proportions over the last month or so, a weather occurrence so rare that it is patently unfair to use its impact as a debate point. And when you have a highly unusual 40- to 50-degree temperature swing, as was the case last week, creating a wild freeze/thaw cycle, it could wreak havoc with any racing surface. Let’s not forget now that the inner track was not immune to the elements and, at many points over the years, had issues of its own, some serious. If you don’t think winter racing in New York is aesthetically pleasing, that’s one thing, although if you go down that road, be honest about it and acknowledge you could also make the same claim about many cards at any track racing right now. The fact is, winter racing in New York is essential for many horsemen, important to management’s balance sheet, and is still appealing enough to enough horseplayers to command a significant slice of the simulcast wagering pie.