Even with Gulfstream Park canceling racing after the fifth race Saturday due to  heavy thunderstorms, and as a consequence postponing the return of the Todd Pletcher-trained Daredevil in the Swale, Pletcher ended up winning a stakes for 3-year-olds anyway.

The Pletcher-trained Royal Son, the 9-1 third choice in the race, led throughout to take the John Battaglia Memorial at Turfway Park in a 5 1/4-length romp, while 1-5 favorite The Great War bombed, falling apart after chasing the pace for six furlongs and running last, with Equibase chart callers commenting he bled.

ARCADIA, Calif. -- Verraco’s win in an optional claimer for 3-year-olds on Friday may lead to a start in the $800,000 Sunland Derby in New Mexico on March 22.

Trainer Jim Cassidy said on Saturday that Verraco emerged from his second career win on Friday in good order, and that Sunland Derby and the $550,000 Spiral Stakes at Turfway Park on March 21 were mentioned as possibilities by owner Deron Pearson.

More often than not, when a horse owns the top last-race Beyer Speed Figure, the horse is favored. And if by chance that figure came against top company recently and over the track where the horse is running again, a short price also is likely.

Yet there is a horse in Saturday’s Swale Stakes at Gulfstream who holds those advantages but is unlikely to be the public’s choice. He is X Y Jet, and he is worth a bet.

:: GULFSTREAM PARK: Get PPs, watch Saturday’s card live

ARCADIA, Calif. – Texas Red, the winner of the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile last November, will remain at a Northern California farm until March 7 while recovering from an abscess in a foot, trainer Keith Desormeaux said on Thursday.

Desormeaux had planned to bring Texas Red to Santa Anita this weekend. Desormeaux said he has opted for an additional week for further recuperation and to continue a program of swimming Texas Red at the farm.

Throughout the spring prep season, DRF Breeding will publish pedigree profiles of Kentucky Derby contenders. Our current profiles are archived below, in alphabetical order.

American Pharoah

Carpe Diem

Dortmund

Far Right

Khozan
Distorted Humor–Delta Princess, by A.P. Indy
Bred in Kentucky by Adena Springs; $1 million purchase by Al Shaqab Racing at Fasig-Tipton Florida March sale of 2-year-olds in training

There were three graded stakes offering qualifying points toward the Kentucky Derby last weekend, but a colt who has yet to test that level arguably made the biggest splash.

Falling between last Saturday’s Fountain of Youth, Risen Star, and the seasonal bow of Main Sequence and next Saturday’s Big Cap, San Felipe, Tampa Bay Derby, and Gotham, this Saturday represents a relative soft spot on the national stakes schedule. The day’s main event is the Grade 2, $200,000 Swale Stakes at Gulfstream, which marks the seasonal debut of Champagne Stakes winner Daredevil.

John Battaglia Memorial

Daredevil was assigned post 1 for his much-awaited seasonal debut in the $200,000 Swale Stakes, one of three graded stakes for 3-year-olds Saturday at Gulfstream Park.

One of the handful of Kentucky Derby prospects trained by Todd Pletcher, Daredevil will be making his first start since finishing last of 11 as the 5-2 second choice in the Nov. 1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile. The colt will be ridden by Javier Castellano when facing six others in the seven-furlong Swale.

Gorgeous Bird, never a factor when fifth as the 6-1 fourth choice in the Fountain of Youth Stakes last Saturday, still could get a shot at a Kentucky Derby berth by making his next start in the April 4 Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland.

“That’s my first reaction, to point him to the Blue Grass,” said trainer Ian Wilkes. “But first I’ll have to see how he trains. He came out of the race just fine.”

For The Great War, the road to the Kentucky Derby requires snow tires.

Rather than decamp to south Florida for his Derby preps, The Great War was purposely kept in the cold climes of Kentucky, where trainer Wesley Ward keeps 20 of his runners during the winter. The move was a strategic one, both to give The Great War an easier path to his final Derby prep and to keep him in an environment more in line with what he was used to in Ireland, where he was based last year.