PHOENIX - The big names we all know - First Samurai, Brother Derek, Bluegrass Cat, Barbaro. But part of the excitement of the Kentucky Derby trail is scraping below the surface, rooting out and uncovering those hidden gems. Here are three candidates who have been flying under the radar and may represent some value down the line:

NEW YORK - The spotlight Saturday will be on Santa Anita, which presents a Grade 1 stakes doubleheader comprising the Las Virgenes Stakes for 3-year-old fillies and the Santa Maria Handicap for older females. Each race is worth $250,000. The only other graded stakes on Saturday's schedule is the Grade 3, $100,000 Appleton Handicap at Gulfstream Park.

California Breeders' Cup Oaks

OZONE PARK, N.Y. - The news of Stevie Wonderboy's injury was barely digested when it was learned Sorceror's Stone had also dropped off the Kentucky Derby trail because of a bum ankle. Sadly for handicappers, each year it becomes more important to get a quick and reasonably accurate read on 2-year-olds and early-season 3-year-olds. So many of them, it seems, are here today and gone tomorrow, especially the good ones who are apparently too fast for their own good.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - For many fantasy sports league players, the season begins and ends with NFL football. Of course, there is no reason why it should. Other leagues exist - including one, the Road to the Roses online fantasy game (www.roadtotheroses.com), which revolves around the Kentucky Derby and its prep races.

to help you handicap maiden races more effectively-for 2-year-olds, and for the same crop through June of their 3-year-old year. We'll do this by giving examples of what worked-and, occasionally, what did not work-if you followed the guidelines we have posted on this site for using this tool.

PHILADELPHIA - This whole 2-year-old champion thing has gone from the bizarre to the absurd. In the 27 years since 2-year-old champion Spectacular Bid won the 1979 Kentucky Derby, more 2-year-old champions (14) have not made it to the Derby than have. And of the 13 that have survived long enough to get into the Derby, only four finished in the top three. Forty Niner (1988) is the only 2-year-old champ that really came close to winning the Derby.

NEW YORK - You see it happen so often that it has almost become predictable. A racing surface will suddenly develop a distinct favoritism toward horses with early speed. Everyone notices it, including jockeys and trainers. Invariably, late in the card, there will be a race where the participants will be so intent on trying to capitalize on the way the track is playing that there will be a wild pace battle. The pace will be so demanding that the speed won't hold up, even under markedly favorable conditions, and a horse will be a bias-buster and come from way back to win.

PHOENIX - With a pedigree that shouts route - he's by Deputy Minister out of a Seeking the Gold mare - Turnbolt's first route assignment in Santa Anita's Grade 2 San Pasqual Handicap on Jan. 7 was highly anticipated. The jury remains out, however, on whether he can handle the distance. Turnbolt ran decently in the 1 1/16-mile San Pasqual, finishing fourth by 1 1/4 lengths, but the result wasn't exactly what his connections were hoping for.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Like many, I was struck by the tenaciousness Magna Graduate displayed in defeating Suave by a head in the Nov. 25 Clark Handicap at Churchill Downs. On the basis of that race, Magna Graduate would be a logical choice to win Saturday's Donn Handicap at Gulfstream Park.

NEW YORK - It's a big day of racing Saturday at Gulfstream Park, where the $500,000 Donn Handicap heads a card that also includes five other stakes worth an additional $650,000.

Donn Handicap