HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – The meeting of Solomini and Magnum Moon on neutral ground in the Grade 2, $900,000 Rebel on Saturday at Oaklawn has the look of a key matchup seven weeks out from the Kentucky Derby. In what might be a telltale sign, there were no other shippers from the West Coast – Solomini’s base – or the East Coast, which is home to Magnum Moon.

Analyzed as a prep race for the Kentucky Derby, Saturday’s Grade 3, $200,000 Jeff Ruby Steaks on Polytrack at Turfway Park is a secondary affair, overshadowed by more lucrative dirt stakes. But viewed from the perspective of a bettor, there is nothing second rate about the Jeff Ruby.

The 1 1/8-mile race – formerly called the Spiral – drew 12 entrants and is so evenly matched that the six shortest prices on the morning line range from 5-1 to 6-1.

Greyvitos is not part of some racehorse witness protection program. It only seems that way.

From the moment he sparked interest last November while winning the Grade 3 Bob Hope Stakes at Del Mar, defeating a field that included Mourinho and Run Away, Greyvitos had the look of a colt with a future. What kind of future was unclear, but it figured to be an interesting ride.

Entries for the eight-stakes March 24 card, headlined by the $1 million Louisiana Derby, will be taken on March 17, and as of Wednesday, Fair Grounds racing officials had a core of eight likely runners for the local derby.

Hazit and Ride a Comet were installed as 5-1 co-favorites on the morning line when a full field of 12 3-year-olds was drawn Wednesday for Saturday’s Grade 3, $200,000 Jeff Ruby Steaks, the signature race at Turfway Park in Florence, Ky.

It has been three years since American Pharoah swept the Triple Crown, time enough for him to already have yearlings on the ground. The time since then has made the colt’s majority owner, Ahmed Zayat, all the more appreciative of what he experienced with American Pharoah, including winning the Kentucky Derby after near misses with Bodemeister, Nehro, and Pioneerof the Nile, and has made him long to get to, and win, the Derby again.

Grade 2, $355,000 Tampa Bay Derby; 1 1/16 miles; Tampa Bay Downs; March 10, 2018
(50 Derby qualifying points for a win, 20 for second, 10 for third, 5 for fourth)

Winner: Quip, by Distorted Humor
Trainer: Rodolphe Brisset
Jockey: Florent Geroux
Owner: WinStar Farm, China Horse Club, and S F Racing
Beyer Speed Figure: 94

WHO’S HOT

Solomini

Curlin – Surf Song, by Storm Cat

Bred in Kentucky by veterinarian Glenna R. Salyer ($270,000 purchase by Zayat Stables at 2016 Keeneland September yearling sale)

Proven young classic sire Curlin doesn’t just have Eclipse Award champion Good Magic eyeing the Kentucky Derby from his most successful crop of juveniles. His arsenal also includes the consistent Solomini, who is bolstered by a long-winded female family.

Grade 3, $300,000 Gotham Stakes; one mile; Aqueduct; March 10, 2018
(50 Derby qualifying points for a win, 20 for second, 10 for third, 5 for fourth) 

Winner: Enticed, by Medaglia d’Oro
Trainer: Kiaran McLaughlin
Jockey: Junior Alvarado
Owner: Godolphin Racing LLC
Beyer Speed Figure: 95