HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – The key word around trainer Gustavo Delgado’s barn on Saturday morning at Gulfstream Park was maintenance. At least when it came to The Puma’s first work back since his second-place finish in the Grade 1 Florida Derby two weeks earlier. A maintenance work was exactly what the connections of The Puma were looking for and a maintenance work is exactly what they got, and then some. The Puma breezed an official four furlongs in 52.41 seconds after breaking away at a two-minute clip from the five-eighths pole before picking up the pace appreciably on the gallop-out into and around the clubhouse turn. The Puma ultimately completed a full mile in 1:46.21 over the fast strip.  “I think we kept repeating ‘maintenance’ to the exercise rider so many times before the work he got a little too comfortable, to be honest, and went a little slower than we actually wanted,” Delgado’s son and assistant Gustavo Jr. explained several hours later. “The best section of the work came after the wire. He actually wound up going nearly a mile and one quarter. That was really the intention of the work. That’s what we were mainly looking for. The final time really didn’t matter.” :: Get DRF Kentucky Oaks & Derby Clocker Reports by Mike Welsch and the DRF Clocker Team Returning in just three weeks following his victory in the Grade 3 Tampa Bay Derby, The Puma suffered a heartbreaking defeat when caught in the final jump of the 1 1/8-mile Florida Derby, finishing second to Commandment by the slimmest of margins. The Puma earned a career-best 100 Beyer Speed Figure in the process. “So far, everything is going according to plan since the race,” the younger Delgado added. “He’ll have his main breeze here next week, either Friday or Saturday depending on the weather. With Javier [Castellano] coming in for the work. He’ll then ship to Kentucky and have his final Derby breeze at Churchill Downs.” It is exactly the same schedule the Delgado’s used so successfully with Mage leading up to his victory in the 2023 Kentucky Derby following his second-place finish in the Florida Derby five weeks earlier.  Trainer Bill Mott and his son Riley sent out Kentucky Derby contenders of their own to work around the South Florida area on Saturday. At Payson Park, Florida Derby third-place finisher Chief Wallabee breezed an easy half-mile in 49.53 per Daily Racing Form in company with Grade 3 winner Batten Down for the elder Mott. Meanwhile, his son sent out Virginia Derby winner Incredibolt to complete the same distance in a livelier 47.80 about 45 miles down the highway at Palm Meadows.      Chief Wallabee, who finished just a half-length behind Commandment and The Puma in the Florida Derby, is currently 22nd in the point standings and still needs a little help to get into the Derby lineup. Incredibolt, who is safely in the field sitting in 13th-place in the standings, has now had three works, all at Palm Meadows, since his four-length victory in the Virginia Derby at Colonial Downs on March 14.  :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.