One Saturday after getting Forte through his first race of the season in flying colors, Todd Pletcher will be looking to extend his record as the winningest trainer in Tampa Bay Derby history when sending out Tapit Trice as a solid favorite in the annual marquee race at Tampa Bay Downs in Oldsmar, Fla. Pletcher already has won a record five runnings of the Tampa Bay Derby, which will be run Saturday for the 43rd time. Tapit Trice broke through in his most recent start with an eight-length victory and a 92 Beyer Speed Figure in a Feb. 4 allowance going a one-turn mile at Gulfstream Park. It was at Gulfstream on Saturday that Forte, the 2-year-old champion of 2022, made a triumphant return to action in winning the Fountain of Youth Stakes by 4 1/2 lengths. Both the Fountain of Youth and Tampa Bay Derby are 1 1/16-mile races with 100 qualifying points (50-20-15-10-5) toward the Kentucky Derby on May 6. Entries will be drawn Wednesday for the Grade 2, $350,000 Tampa Bay Derby, one of five stakes set for a 12-race Festival Day card. The other stakes are the Grade 2 Hillsborough, the Grade 3 Florida Oaks, the Grade 3 Challenger, and the Columbia. :: KENTUCKY DERBY 2023: Derby Watch, point standings, prep schedule, news, and more Tapit Trice, a gray Tapit colt owned by Whisper Hill Farm and Gainesway Stable, was sent through his final pre-race work Saturday at Palm Beach Downs in Delray Beach, Fla., when going a half-mile in 49.20 seconds. Luis Saez has the mount Saturday. “He worked dynamite and is doing great,” Pletcher said. “He ought to appreciate the added distance and the two turns. He’s training like a good horse.” Pletcher said Saturday at Gulfstream that he also is considering Shesterkin, second to Tapit Trice in the Feb. 4 allowance, for the Tampa Bay Derby. The Hall of Fame trainer won his first Tampa Bay Derby in 2004 with Limehouse and his most recent with Tapwrit in 2017. Pletcher won the Sam F. Davis at Tampa for a record seventh time Feb. 11 with Litigate, who goes next in the Louisiana Derby on March 25 at Fair Grounds. Five of the horses who finished behind Litigate are expected to be entered back in the Tampa Derby, those being Groveland (second), Classic Car Wash (third), Classic Legacy (fourth), Zydeceaux (fifth), and Prairie Hawk (ninth). In all, at least 10 are considered likely by the Tampa racing office, the others being Freedom Road, Mikey Bananas, and West Coast Cowboy. :: Bet the races on DRF Bets! Sign up with code WINNING to get a $250 Deposit Match, $10 Free Bet, and FREE DRF Formulator.  Pletcher also will be represented in the two main supporting features when running Scotish Star in the $200,000 Hillsborough and Alpha Bella in the $150,000 Florida Oaks. Both will be run on a turf course that has thrived amid plenty of action this winter, with the Hillsborough for older fillies and mares going at 1 1/8 miles and the Florida Oaks for 3-year-old fillies at 1 1/16 miles. Chad Brown is expected to dominate the speculation for the Hillsborough by running the trio of Shantistara, Rougir, and Marketsegmentation out of his Payson Park base. Brown has won five of the last 11 runnings of the Hillsborough, including the 2022 running with the recently retired Bleecker Street. All purses listed here do not include additional bonuses restricted to Florida-breds. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.