OLDSMAR, Fla. – An outsider named Quip ran himself right into the Kentucky Derby picture Saturday when getting a perfect trip under Florent Geroux in a 19-1 upset of the Grade 2, $355,000 Tampa Bay Derby, the annual signature event at Tampa Bay Downs.

Quip earned 50 qualifying points toward the Kentucky Derby and thereby gives WinStar Farm and their partners yet another hopeful for the May 5 classic.

“I needed this,” trainer Rodolphe Brisset told WinStar president Elliott Walden in the joyful aftermath of the Tampa Bay Derby. “This is big.”

Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf winner Mendelssohn made a winning return to the races Friday night at Dundalk Racecourse in Ireland, capturing the listed Patton Stakes over his stablemate Threeandfourpence by about three-quarters of a length in his 3-year-old debut.

ARCADIA, Calif. – Justify can support the hype surrounding his brilliant debut if he wins his first start around two turns Sunday at Santa Anita.

A win in the allowance race with a $75,000 claiming option at a mile would vault Justify into the spring preps for the Kentucky Derby.

“We’ll see what he does around two turns,” trainer Bob Baffert said. “There are a lot of unanswered questions.”

:: Justify part of exclusive Beyer club

Santa Anita | Race 6 | Post Time 2:30 p.m. (PT) | Go to the TimeformUS PPs

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Tampa Bay Downs | Race 11 | Post Time 5:20 p.m. (ET) | Go to the TimeformUS PPs

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There might be a richer race at Santa Anita on Saturday, and there might be better races to come in the 3-year-old ranks this spring as Kentucky Derby Day nears, but it’s hard to argue that the Grade 2, $400,000 San Felipe Stakes is not the race of the day and the biggest Derby prep run to date, owing to the presence of the colt who has become the leader of the division, and the one who was atop the leaderboard heading into the Breeders’ Cup.

OLDSMAR, Fla. – Todd Pletcher can self-deprecate with the best of them. Ask him to talk about how he has won the Tampa Bay Derby five times, and he quickly downplays his domination.

“I think I’ve been second in it more times than I’ve won it,” he said.

It’s true. On eight occasions, from 2000 to 2016, Pletcher has been represented by the Tampa Bay Derby runner-up, a historical footnote that underscores his familiarity with the annual signature race at Tampa Bay Downs.

Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf winner and Kentucky Derby hopeful Mendelssohn is expected to race for the first time as a 3-year-old Friday night at Dundalk in Ireland.

Gronkowski won the Road to the Kentucky Derby Conditions Stakes on Wednesday at Kempton Park in England, and became the co-leader in points on the European Road to the Kentucky Derby.

The road to the Kentucky Derby for Bolt d’Oro has had a couple of detours, but on Saturday at Santa Anita he is scheduled to finally make his first start at age 3 in the San Felipe Stakes, and in a little more than 100 seconds, it will become evident if he’s still cruising in the fast lane.