Santa Anita has Saturday’s stakes with the highest grade in the Grade 2, $200,000 Palos Verdes, which lured likely repeat male sprint champion Roy H, but there are multi-stakes cards at Fair Grounds, Gulfstream, and Tampa Bay Downs. The Grade 3, $200,000 Lecomte Stakes tops a program at Fair Grounds that also includes five other stakes. The $200,000 Sunshine Millions Classic is the feature at Gulfstream on a card that has three other Sunshine Millions events. And Tampa has a stakes tripleheader, led by the Gasparilla and Pasco, worth up to $125,000 each. Lecomte Stakes It remains to be seen if any of the 3-year-olds in this field of 14 will be factors later on the road to the Kentucky Derby. But one thing is certain: this is a heck of a betting race. Plus Que Parfait is the tepid morning-line favorite off a narrowly beaten second in the Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes. That race, however, was run in the slop at Churchill Downs, and unless there is more rain in New Orleans on Saturday than is forecast at this writing, I’m reluctant to take that race at face value. And while it is true that Plus Que Parfait isn’t slop-dependent – since he won two starts back on a fast track going long at Keeneland – that performance does not give him any appreciable edge on seven or eight others in this race. War of Will was competitive in three turf stakes last year, including a fifth in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf while still a maiden. But last year’s 2-year-old male turf division was soft, and even though War of Will crushed maidens in his first start on dirt in his last appearance, that, too, was in the slop, and on a Churchill main track known to often mimic turf. :: WIN A TRIP TO THE QUEEN'S PLATE: Click here to cast your vote for the 2018 Horse of the Year contest, and be entered to win a trip for two to the Queen’s Plate at Woodbine! Tackett comes off wins in his first two attempts around two turns while pairing up Beyer Figures in excess of 80. However, I’m not sold on that 84 he got last time because the opponent he narrowly defeated improved on his previous best Beyer by a tough-to-believe 21 points. Two entered here come out of the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile, which has already proven to be a productive race. The Juvenile’s fifth-place finisher, Gunmetal Gray, came back to win the Sham, albeit with a Beyer of only 82, and seventh-place finisher Mind Control came back to win the Jerome with an 88 Beyer. Mr. Money finished fourth in the Juvenile, but I’m going with the other one coming out of that event, Tight Ten. Tight Ten finished a distant ninth in the Juvenile, but his outing is best forgiven, and not only because he steadied and hit the rail into the first turn. Breeders’ Cup Friday at Churchill was a day when I thought the rail was definitely not the place to be, and Tight Ten was on it until late on the far turn. His second in the Iroquois two starts back was decent, and he has speed in a race that doesn’t really have much of it. Manny Wah is also interesting at a price. The 91 Beyer he earned for finishing second in the Sugar Bowl most recently looks like it might be legitimate, and he won going two turns three back. Gasparilla Stakes Bella Ciao may have been a slightly disappointing third in the Hut Hut Stakes last time out and was beaten the length of the stretch in the Alcibiades two starts back, but she’s still my play. It all goes back to Bella Ciao’s effort three back in the Grade 1 Spinaway Stakes. The Spinaway was a race that totally fell apart late and wound up with a slow final time, but Bella Ciao’s fourth-place finish at 125-1 after being close to a destructive early pace is still good enough to win this race. Sunshine Millions Classic At first glance, it appears Jay’s Way is far removed from the form that enabled him to win this race last year, but I believe he can repeat. Jay’s Way was coming off an eight-month layoff when he ran in a prep for this at Gulfstream Park West in November and clearly needed the race. He then ran in a tough race on turf last month, and that is simply not his surface. Jay’s Way still has his early speed, and is now primed for a peak performance.