Trainer Brad Cox confirmed Sunday what was widely expected – that champion Essential Quality would have his final Kentucky Derby prep and second start of his 3-year-old season on April 3 at Keeneland in the Blue Grass Stakes.

ARCADIA, Calif. – All the work in recent weeks to get Life Is Good to ration his speed paid off handsomely in the San Felipe Stakes on Saturday at Santa Anita, as the brilliant 3-year-old colt showed why there has been so much fuss about him out here, with a romping, eight-length victory that left no doubt he’s the King of California.

OLDSMAR, Fla. – Trainer Mark Casse said Helium emerged in good order from his 15-1 victory Saturday in the Tampa Bay Derby and that the Ironicus colt is unlikely to race again prior to the May 1 Kentucky Derby.

Helium, making his first start in nearly five months and just his third overall, fended off a sustained run from Hidden Stash in remaining unbeaten for DJ Stable and Casse in the annual Tampa signature event.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. - As the seasons are about to change, so too, apparently, are the fortunes of the 3-year-old colt Weyburn.

Forced to miss two starts earlier in the year due to illness and injury, Weyburn made the most of his first opportunity to run in three months by outfinishing Crowded Trade to win Saturday’s Grade 3, $300,000 Gotham Stakes by a nose at Aqueduct. It was 1 3/4 lengths back to Highly Motivated, the 4-5 favorite, in third.

OLDSMAR, Fla. – In midstretch of the 41st Tampa Bay Derby, it sure looked like Hidden Stash had Helium measured.

“I thought we were going to win it,” Vicki Oliver, the trainer of Hidden Stash, said afterward.

But it wasn’t to be, as Helium remained unbeaten in three career starts with a 15-1 upset of the annual marquee event at Tampa Bay Downs by battling back to win the Grade 2, $350,000 Tampa Bay Derby and clinch a berth in the 147th Kentucky Derby. The winner paid $32.80 after finishing 1 1/16 miles in 1:43.55 over a fast track.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Brooklyn Strong, unraced since winning the Grade 2 Remsen at Aqueduct on Dec. 5, is attempting to train up to the Grade 2, $750,000 Wood Memorial, trainer Danny Velazquez said this week.

Brooklyn Strong got sick and then missed significant training time due to poor track conditions at Parx, where he is based. Brooklyn Strong returned to the work tab on Feb. 26 with a three-furlong move in 36.89 seconds and was scheduled to work again over the weekend.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Put aside the fact the winner of Saturday’s Grade 3, $300,000 Gotham Stakes at Aqueduct essentially earns a spot in the starting gate for the Kentucky Derby. The one-mile race is simply a logical spot for the development of probable race favorites Freedom Fighter and Highly Motivated, whose futures may include high-profile, albeit shorter, races in the 3-year-old division.

ARCADIA, Calif. – Last Sunday morning, when Life Is Good had his final workout at Santa Anita in preparation for the Grade 2, $300,000 San Felipe Stakes on Saturday, his jockey, Mike Smith, watched the drill from the stands and remarked that as smooth as Life Is Good looks to an observer from that vantage point, it’s even better on his back.

“His balance is that of an extreme athlete,” Smith said. “If he was an NBA player, he’d have a crossover that would break your ankles, like Allen Iverson. He moves incredible.”

OLDSMAR, Fla. – Rain and unseasonable chill are in the Saturday forecast at Tampa Bay Downs, but somebody’s day will get much brighter as the sun is lowering itself onto a dreary Gulf Coast horizon.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – An equipment change helped Wipe the Slate achieve his first career victory. Trainer Doug O’Neill hopes another change will help the 3-year-old get his second one.

O’Neill will remove the blinkers from Wipe the Slate’s equipment when he runs in Saturday’s Grade 3, $300,000 Gotham Stakes at Aqueduct. Wipe the Slate will attempt to rebound from a last-place finish in the Grade 3 Robert Lewis on Jan. 30 at Santa Anita.