Essential Quality, a decisive winner last Saturday in his 3-year-old debut, is the morning-line favorite in Pool 4 of the 2021 Kentucky Derby Future Wager, which opens for the customary three-day run Friday at noon Eastern.

Pool 4 coincides with the only Kentucky Oaks futures and Oaks-Derby double to be offered by Churchill Downs prior to both classics. Pool 4 will close Sunday at 6 p.m. Eastern, and the Oaks pool a half-hour later at 6:30. Win and exacta wagering are offered for both pools.

Mystic Guide’s romping victory Saturday afternoon at Oaklawn definitely was the high point of the week for trainer Mike Stidham’s stable, but Friday morning at Fair Grounds yielded an encouraging result, too.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Prevalence, the Godolphin homebred who was withheld from a race last week at Gulfstream, could make his second career start in the coming days following a quick recovery from a minor illness. Prevalence breezed a half-mile in 48.40 seconds Saturday at the Palm Meadows training center.

Trainer Brendan Walsh said before leaving Tuesday for California, where on Saturday he will run Maxfield in the Santa Anita Handicap, that he hopes to run Prevalence in a first-level allowance in time to make a Kentucky Derby points qualifier.

Senor Buscador, who won the Springboard Mile and was fifth most recently in the Risen Star Stakes, emerged from a recent workout in preparation for the March 13 Rebel Stakes at Oaklawn with what appears to be a minor injury and will be given time to recuperate, trainer Todd Fincher said Monday from Sam Houston, where Senor Buscador has been training.

Fincher said the issue is with Senor Buscador’s right front leg.

A capacity field of 12 3-year-olds is expected when entries are taken Wednesday for the Grade 2 Tampa Bay Derby, to be run Saturday for the 41st time at Tampa Bay Downs in Oldsmar, Fla.

Candy Man Rocket, winner of the Feb. 6 Sam F. Davis at Tampa, figures as a lukewarm favorite in the $350,000 Tampa Derby, a 1 1/16-mile race that offers Kentucky Derby qualifying points on a 50-20-10-5 scale. It’s one of three Derby preps set for a busy Saturday across the country, along with the Gotham at Aqueduct and the San Felipe at Santa Anita.

Grade 2, $300,000 Fountain of Youth Stakes, 1 1/16 miles, Gulfstream Park, Feb. 27, 2021
(50 Derby qualifying points for first, 10 for second, 10 for third, 5 for fourth)

Winner: Greatest Honour, by Tapit
Trainer: Shug McGaughey
Jockey: Jose Ortiz
Owner: Courtlandt Farms
Beyer Speed Figure: 89

Grade 3, $750,000 Southwest Stakes, 1 1/16 miles, Oaklawn Park, Feb. 27, 2021
(10 Derby qualifying points for first, 4 for second, 2 for third, 1 for fourth)

Winner: Essential Quality, by Tapit
Trainer: Brad Cox
Jockey: Luis Saez
Owner: Godolphin LLC
Beyer Speed Figure: 96

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – The undefeated champion Essential Quality will put his status as the early Kentucky Derby favorite on the line Saturday in the Grade 3, $750,000 Southwest Stakes at Oaklawn Park.

The mile and a sixteenth race will be Essential Quality’s first start at 3 and his first since winning the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile. He’s part of a field of seven that includes Jackie’s Warrior, an Eclipse Awards finalist at 2, and Southern California shipper Spielberg, a Grade 2 winner who has recency on both horses.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla – Although the supporting cast is a strong one, all eyes will be on Greatest Honour as he attempts to continue his forward march along the Kentucky Derby trail with a victory in Saturday’s $300,000 Fountain of Youth Stakes for 3-year-olds going 1 1/16 miles. The Grade 2 fixture highlights an outstanding 14-race program at Gulfstream Park that features nine stakes, eight of them graded, along with the 3-year-old debuts of two Breeders’ Cup winners, Fire At Will in the Fountain of Youth and 2-year-old filly champion Vequist in the Grade 2 Davona Dale.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – The field for next Saturday’s Grade 3, $300,000 Gotham Stakes remained a work in progress a week out, with only four horses considered definite and a few other fringe players under consideration.

The Gotham lost one expected starter on Friday when trainer Wesley Ward said One Fast Cat, a debut winner at Turfway Park on Feb. 4, would not make the race. Though One Fast Cat worked five furlongs in 1:02.60 at Keeneland on Friday, Ward said the horse missed too much training and will now be pointed to the Bay Shore Stakes at Aqueduct on April 3.