LEXINGTON, Ky. – He hit the mark in the Blue Grass Stakes, winning his first Grade 1 for owner Spendthrift Farm, which, not coincidentally, is in the business of standing stallions. He posted the widest margin of victory in any major Kentucky Derby prep, and no Derby starter will bring to the race a speed figure higher than the 106 Beyer he earned here Saturday. All that, and, obviously, trainer Brad Cox hopes Further Ado is not done yet. Further Ado’s two fastest races, a 20-length maiden score last fall and the Blue Grass, came at Keeneland, but don’t forget that Further Ado, while far less dominant than on Saturday, captured his lone start at Churchill Downs in the Kentucky Jockey Club last fall. Further Ado finished second by three-quarters of a length making his seasonal debut in the Tampa Bay Derby, which means the Kentucky Derby marks the third start of his form cycle, when many horses hit a peak. “He moved forward in the Blue Grass, and if he can just maintain that he can be competitive,” Cox said Sunday morning. “And if he moves forward again, he can get it done.” Saturday night and Sunday morning, Cox saw no reason why Further Ado could not at least maintain his form. While he ran fast and won by 11 lengths, Further Ado, in Cox’s view, didn’t have an especially hard race Saturday. Jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. didn’t coast home, but neither did he come close to asking for Further Ado’s very best. “It’s not like he was in a dogfight. Irad thought there was another gear,” Cox said. “I was there till 8 o’clock last night watching him graze, and he looked fantastic.” Cox expects to work Further Ado twice before the Derby; expect to see him breezing without a workmate. Further Ado has proven such a willing work horse that Cox hasn’t put him in company all year. Cox, all being well, will have two other Derby starters – Florida Derby winner Commandment and Jeff Ruby Steaks winner Fulleffort. All three colts might need a new jockey in the Derby if Ortiz winds up on Arkansas Derby winner Renegade and Flavien Prat, who took over from Ortiz on Commandment in the Florida Derby, rides Louisiana Derby winner Emerging Market for trainer Chad Brown. The Blue Grass might have looked much different if Brown and Prat had come with undefeated Paladin as planned. Paladin exited a March 28 workout with an injury requiring surgical repair, but his substitute, Ottinho, filled in admirably, rallying from sixth to nab a distant second. Racing for the first time in blinkers while making his fourth start, Ottinho ran his best race so far, bumping his Beyer to 89, a new top by seven points. The 50 Kentucky Derby qualifying points he earned would get him into the Derby, but Ottinho is no sure thing to start. “We really had planned to try and get a piece, and Flavien executed it, and the horse really stepped up,” Brown said. “He was beaten pretty far though, so I have to talk to the owner, Goncalo Torrealba, realistically, about what we’re doing here.” If not the Derby, Ottinho could plausibly target the Peter Pan Stakes on May 9 at Aqueduct as a stepping-stone to the Belmont on June 6 at Saratoga. Blue Grass third-place finisher Talkin has 35 Derby points, typically on the cusp of qualification, but the point is moot because trainer Danny Gargan said connections aren’t looking at the Derby. If Talkin jumps into the Triple Crown, Gargan said, it will be in the Preakness. Eclatant, Saudi Crown add to Cox’s big day Before Further Ado won the Blue Grass, Cox already had sent out Saudi Crown to win the Grade 3 Commonwealth and Eclatant to win the Grade 1 Madison on the Keeneland card. And as fast as Further Ado ran, Eclatant, a 4-year-old filly, ran even faster. On the heels of her 104 Beyer Speed Figure – easily the best of her career – in a Feb. 22 Gulfstream Park allowance race, her first start since June, Eclatant got a 109 for running seven furlongs in 1:21.84 in the Madison, her first Grade 1 success. She ran no better than Grand Job, who came out on the wrong side of a tight photo and also got a 109. :: Keeneland Spring Meet! Get DRF Past Performances, picks, news, and more. Since Eclatant has won both her Keeneland starts and might run her best race over seven furlongs, Cox clearly has an eye on the seven-furlong Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint here in October. He gave the filly plenty of recovery time into the Madison and almost certainly won’t send Eclatant back into action as soon as the $1 million Derby City Distaff on May 2. A similar dynamic applies to Saudi Crown, whose seven-furlong Commonwealth clocking of 1:22.86 yielded a 99 Beyer. The Kentucky race for him next month would be the $1 million Churchill Downs Stakes, and Cox all but ruled out a start there. Cox himself played a hands-on role in Saturday’s triumph. After putting on Saudi Crown’s saddle, Cox took the lead shank as Saudi Crown stood in a paddock stall some distance from the rest of the horses. Periodically, he walked Saudi Crown in a tight little circle just outside the stall. “He just gets a touch warm sometimes. I like to keep him moving, let him see things,” Cox said. – additional reporting by David Grening :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.