HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – In college basketball, midseason meetings between the number one- and number two-ranked teams are well-hyped, often meaningless, and usually long forgotten by the time the Big Dance rolls around. On the Kentucky Derby trail, confrontations between the number one and two prospects 10 weeks in advance of the main event are rare, highly anticipated, and a bit more relevant – but perhaps no real harbinger of what to expect on the first Saturday of May.

Editor’s Note: Countdown to the Crown returns for a seventh season online as one of the most comprehensive handicapper’s scouting reports of the 3-year-old scene. Posted each Friday at DRF.com from Jan. 6 through the Belmont Stakes, Countdown keeps you apprised of the rising stars of the 3-year-old class from the maiden ranks through the Grade 1 stakes. You can access daily updates and interactive features at Countdowntothecrown.com as well.

3 things you won’t read anywhere else

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – In college basketball, midseason meetings between the number one- and number two-ranked teams are well-hyped, often meaningless, and usually long forgotten by the time the Big Dance rolls around. On the Kentucky Derby trail, confrontations between the number one and two prospects 10 weeks in advance of the main event are rare, highly anticipated, and a bit more relevant – but perhaps no real harbinger of what to expect on the first Saturday of May.

NEW ORLEANS – Mardi Gras may have ended Tuesday, but in this city, the rallying cry is always “laissez les bons temps rouler.” At Fair Grounds on Saturday, the good times roll with a stakes-packed Louisiana Derby preview card, highlighted by a Grade 2, $300,000 Risen Star Stakes in which the locals will try to defend their honor against a visitor.

Fed Biz, winner of a maiden race and an optional claimer at this meeting, will make his stakes debut in the $300,000 San Felipe Stakes over 1 1/16 miles on March 10, trainer Bob Baffert said Wednesday.

Owned by Kaleem Shah, Fed Biz won an optional claimer over a mile by 5 3/4 lengths on Feb. 9. On Wednesday, the colt by Giant’s Causeway worked six furlongs in 1:16.

“He was just cruising around,” Bafffert said. “He switched leads and did everything right.”

In his Feb. 9 race, Fed Biz did not switch leads until deep stretch.

NEW ORLEANS – Like gunslingers inexorably moving toward one another for an old-fashioned shootout, Bob Baffert and Todd Pletcher have been dominating the 3-year-old preps this year. As a result, each trainer has four runners on this week’s top 20 list of Derby Watch, Baffert doubling his total from a week ago because of subsequent victories by Castaway and Secret Circle in divisions of the Southwest Stakes.

WHO’S HOT

Bob Baffert, that’s who. He swept divisions of the Southwest Stakes on Monday with Castaway and Secret Circle, both of whom earned berths on the Derby Watch top 20 list this week as a result. Secret Circle ran the faster time, a large reason why Mike Watchmaker, Daily Racing Form’s national handicapper, has him at 20-1 on his future book line for the May 5 Kentucky Derby. Watchmaker made Castaway 30-1. Baffert also won the San Vicente with Drill, but since he is not being considered for the Derby, he was kept off the list.

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - Adirondack King, who shipped in Oaklawn from Florida for trainer John Servis, closed from ninth for third in the second division of the Southwest on Monday. He finished six lengths behind Secret Circle and earned a career-high Beyer Speed Figure of 91.

“As of right now, I think we’re going to leave him out here and try the Rebel,” Servis said Tuesday.

Adirondack King broke from post 2 in a field of 10, and was ridden by Stewart Elliott.

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - Scatman, who finished a half-length behind Secret Circle in second in the Southwest, will likely make his next start in the Rebel, his trainer, Mike Lauer, said on Tuesday.

Scatman took the Southwest field through an opening half-mile in 46.80 seconds, was joined by Secret Circle to midstretch, then was overtaken. For the effort, Scatman earned a Beyer of 101.

“It was his first time two turns and he ran very good,” Lauer said. “I hope there’s improvement there.

“He seems to have come out of the race good and the logical spot is the Rebel.”

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – After sweeping both divisions of the Grade 3, $250,000 Southwest Stakes at Oaklawn on Monday, trainer Bob Baffert said he will be back for the track’s Grade 2, $500,000 Rebel on March 17. The question is with whom?