ARCADIA, Calif. – The paths leading to the Santa Anita Derby and Kentucky Derby began last summer and fall for 2-year-olds in California, and the tempo picks up in winter. For newly turned 3-year-olds at Santa Anita, the winter meet separates Derby pretenders from contenders. The road resumes this week. A maiden route Friday and Grade 2 sprint Saturday are the first significant dirt races for winter 3-year-olds. As usual, Bob Baffert is in the thick of both. Baffert trains the two principals in the Friday maiden route, race 3. Blacksmith finished second last out in the Grade 2 Los Alamitos Futurity, while Cherokee Nation will try to bounce back following a misfire in the Grade 2 Kentucky Jockey Club at Churchill Downs. Blacksmith and Cherokee Nation developed later, while other Baffert 3-year-olds came into their own early. Those include Litmus Test, winner of the Grade 2 Los Alamitos Futurity; Desert Gate, a two-time Grade 1 runner-up; Brant, third in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile; Plutarch, who is Grade 1-placed; Provenance, a debut winner; Boyd, a 2-for-2 stakes winner; and a pair running Saturday in the seven-furlong San Vicente – Grade 1-placed Buetane and debut winner Greenwich Village. :: Santa Anita Classic Meet! Get DRF Past Performances, Clocker Reports, and more. Beyond the Baffert juggernaut, the local 3-year-old division is light. Exceptions are Intrepido, a Jeff Mullins-trained Grade 1 route winner, and Secured Freedom, a sharp maiden sprint winner trained by Tim Yakteen. Blacksmith, runner-up in the Los Alamitos Futurity, makes his fourth start Friday in a race that could stamp him as a potential Derby candidate. Blacksmith, by Liam’s Map, is odds-on. Cherokee Nation, a $1.15 million yearling by Not This Time, also makes his fourth start. Runner-up in an autumn maiden route at Santa Anita second out, he shipped to Churchill for the Kentucky Jockey Club. Cherokee Nation steadied early, appeared uncomfortable racing inside, and finished fifth. “He’s a really big horse, and immature,” Baffert said before going on to explain why he ran a maiden in a stakes. “I wanted to get a race into him. He needs experience, and we’re having trouble filling [maiden] races here in California.” Cherokee Nation’s runner-up finish two back in a maiden route was flattered when winner Mr. A. P. subsequently finished second in the BC Juvenile. Mr. A. P. is off the Derby trail after what his trainer called “a little setback,” a story first reported last month by Daily Racing Form. The maiden race Friday could validate Litmus Test, the winner over Blacksmith in the Los Alamitos Futurity on Dec. 13. Litmus Test previously finished fourth in the BC Juvenile. Plans call for Litmus Test to race just twice more before the Kentucky Derby. “He’s good. I’m going to wait until the San Felipe and Santa Anita Derby,” Baffert said of Litmus Test. “Just run him twice. He already punched his ticket.” Litmus Test raced five times at age 2, including three routes, and has 19 Kentucky Derby qualifying points. He likely will need more. The dirt-route stakes program for Santa Anita 3-year-olds comprises the Grade 3 Robert B. Lewis on Feb. 7, Grade 2 San Felipe on March 7, and Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby on April 4. Desert Gate finished second in back-to-back Grade 1s last fall – the Del Mar Futurity and American Pharoah at Santa Anita. A hock infection prevented him from contesting the BC Juvenile. Baffert considered running him Saturday in the San Vicente. “He wasn’t quite ready, and this rain sort of messed us up,” Baffert said. “I was hoping to run him in the Saudi Derby [Feb. 14].” Baffert did not rule out Saudi Arabia, but after missing the San Vicente, an international ship becomes more challenging. :: Subscribe to the DRF Post Time Email Newsletter: Get the news you need to play today's races!  Brant, the Del Mar Futurity winner who finished third in the BC Juvenile, is taking it easy, with no recent works and no specific target. “He’s training. I just freshened him up,” Baffert said. Until Brant returns to the work tab, plans will remain undetermined. Plutarch was to be scratched from the Eddie Logan Stakes, a turf mile scheduled for Thursday. Plutarch, Grade 1-placed on dirt, presumably will aim for a dirt race. Intrepido, the Mullins trainee who won the American Pharoah, lost his chance in the BC Juvenile when he broke slowly and finished fifth. Intrepido is aiming to the Lewis on Feb. 7, but only if Mullins can get him on a regular work pattern. It won’t be on the synthetic training track. “We’re aiming for the Lewis, but his training [was interrupted],” Mullins said, referring to the recent storms and main-track closure at Santa Anita. “I’m not going to work him on the training track. I’m not going to take a chance to work a dirt horse out there and [mess] him up.” Intrepido posted his most recent workout Dec. 29. He is expected to resume workouts this week. Secured Freedom scored an impressive second-start maiden win racing 6 1/2 furlongs on Dec. 28 at Santa Anita. A Practical Joke colt who trained like a route horse prior to his sprint win, Secured Freedom earned an 88 Beyer Speed Figure in the race. The timing would be right if Secured Freedom stretched out for his next start Feb. 7 in the Lewis. As for the seven-furlong San Vicente on Saturday, its Derby significance is uncertain. The five-runner field is filled with sprinters, with Buetane, second in the Grade 1 Hopeful at Saratoga, facing debut winner Greenwich Village. The others are debut winner So Happy, route-to-sprint Acknowledgemeplz, and Cal-bred allowance winner Thirsty Rebel. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.