HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – While Todd Pletcher’s 3-year-olds still have more to prove to make it to the Kentucky Derby, the Hall of Fame trainer will undoubtedly have a major impact in this year’s older dirt male division. The performances Saturday by Locked in the Santa Anita Handicap and Mindframe in the Gulfstream Park Mile served as reminders as to just how much talent these 4-year-olds possess. At Santa Anita, Locked turned in a record-setting performance when he won the Santa Anita Handicap by 8 1/2 lengths, the largest margin of victory in the 90-year history of the race. Three hours earlier, at Gulfstream Park, Mindframe, returning from an eight-month layoff, won the Grade 2 Gulfstream Park Mile for his first career stakes win. :: Get Gulfstream Park Clocker Reports from Mike Welsch and the Clocker Team. Available every race day.  Add in the fact that the multiple Grade 1 winner Fierceness just returned to Pletcher’s barn at the Palm Beach Downs training center, and Pletcher has a trio of top-tier older horses for the major events in the division this summer and fall. Locked, despite a less-than-ideal trip, rolled to a dominant victory in the Santa Anita Handicap, a performance for which he earned a 109 Beyer Speed Figure. It looked a little dicey early on when Locked was wide and in the back of the pack under Jose Ortiz, despite being equipped with blinkers for the first time. “Down the backside I was thinking I don’t know if these blinkers are taking him where we thought they would, but once he got going it was all good from there,” Pletcher said Sunday morning in his office at the Palm Beach Downs training center. “It seemed like he finished up really well. I always felt like he would handle longer distances. Thankfully, that turned out to be correct.” Pletcher said Locked was due to fly back from California on Tuesday. While the Grade 1 Whitney at Saratoga in August is a summer goal, Pletcher has not yet figured out the best way to get there. Pletcher did say that the owners – Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners and Walmac Farm –  have not expressed interest in running in the Dubai World Cup in April. Mindframe, the runner-up in the 2024 Belmont Stakes and Haskell, came off the bench with a 1 1/4-length victory in the Gulfstream Park Mile. He earned a 96 Beyer Speed Figure for the effort. Pletcher indicated Sunday that the Dubai World Cup is likely not on the agenda for Mindframe. He won well at Churchill Downs last spring so perhaps races like the Alysheba in May and/or the Stephen Foster in June could be potential spots for him. Being that Mindframe is now 2 for 2 at one mile, that could make him a candidate for the Grade 1 Metropolitan Handicap at Saratoga in June. However, that seems like a race to which Fierceness might be pointed. Mindframe is owned by Mike Repole and St. Elias Stables. Fierceness is owned by Repole. Fierceness, last year’s Florida Derby and Travers winner, is expected to return to the work tab this week, Pletcher said. Following his runner-up finish in the Breeders’ Cup Classic in November, Fireceness underwent a minor surgical procedure that knocked him out of potential starts in the Pegasus or the Middle East. He has been galloping for about a month. “He looks really well, he’s filled out matured, he’ll probably get on the work tab at the end of the week,” Pletcher said. Pletcher said a race like the Westchester at Aqueduct, typically run in early May, could be a potential comeback spot. Meanwhile, Pletcher has some decisions to make regarding his 3-year-olds who he still has hopes of making it to the Kentucky Derby. River Thames, beaten a neck by Sovereignty in Saturday’s Fountain of Youth at 1 1/16 miles, will likely get a shot in a 1 1/8-mile race, perhaps the Wood Memorial, Blue Grass, or potentially the Florida Derby. “It seemed like he handled the distance fine. Beyer Speed Figure-wise it was another move forward,” said Pletcher, referring to the 98 he earned. “I thought it was a good race, frustrating because we felt like he kind of let it get away from him just at the end.” Grande, an allowance winner at Gulfstream on Thursday, and Disruptor, a 9 1/4-length maiden winner at Gulfstream on Saturday, would need a one-two finish in a Kentucky Derby points race to qualify for the Derby. Both horses are owned by Mike Repole, one is likely to run in the Florida Derby, the other in the Wood Memorial. “Before Grande ran [Thursday] we were kind of thinking Wood Memorial,” Pletcher said. “He’s 2 for 2 at Gulfstream. We’ll see how he bounces out of it. Like with all of them, everything’s in play.” Disruptor, who finished third on debut on Jan. 25, bounced back with a powerful performance on Saturday, for which he earned a 92 Beyer Speed Figure. “I thought it was a very good effort,” Pletcher said. “He always trained very well. We had high expectations for his debut, he didn’t run badly, but yesterday was more of what we were expecting in his first start. He’s got two seven-eighths races under his belt.” Pletcher won a 1 1/16-mile maiden race Saturday at Tampa with Valentinian, a daughter of Into Mischief out of the Grade 1 winner Rachel’s Valentina. She earned a 79 Beyer Speed Figure. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.