ARCADIA, Calif. – Last Sunday began and ended at Santa Anita as so many race days have this winter for Hall of Fame trainer John Velazquez.

In the morning, Velazquez, riding in California on a temporary basis, arrived at trainer Bob Baffert’s stable to work a horse. In the afternoon, Velazquez climbed off two exciting Baffert-trained runners in the winner’s circle.

OLDSMAR, Fla. – Now would be an opportune time for Classic Causeway to show that all the praise heaped upon him was legit.

“He’s training as good as a horse can for a race like this,” said Brian Lynch, trainer of Classic Causeway, the chestnut colt who figures to be favored again when he makes his 3-year-old debut Saturday in the Grade 3, $200,000 Sam F. Davis Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs.

“But that said, he’s going to have to show us the rest of the way if he’s good enough to become a serious contender” for the Kentucky Derby, Lynch said.

OLDSMAR, Fla. – Mark Casse sent out Flameaway to lower the stakes mark four years ago in the Sam F. Davis Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs. The Hall of Fame trainer wouldn’t mind having one of his three runners in Saturday’s running of the Davis become similarly successful.

Flameaway won more than $900,000 and five stakes from 18 starts. Perhaps his most memorable accomplishment was his 2018 Davis triumph when he sped 1 1/16 miles in a stakes record 1:42.44.

Grade 3, $250,000 Withers Stakes; 1 1/8 miles; Aqueduct; Feb. 5, 2022
(10 Derby qualifying points for first, 4 for second, 2 for third, 1 for fourth)

Winner: Early Voting, by Gun Runner

Trainer: Chad Brown

Jockey: Jose Ortiz

Owner: Klaravich Stables

Beyer Speed Figure: 87

Grade 3, $250,000 Holy Bull Stakes; 1 1/16 miles; Gulfstream Park; Feb. 5, 2022
(10 Derby qualifying points for first, 4 for second, 2 for third, 1 for fourth)

Winner: White Abarrio, by Race Day

Trainer: Saffie Joseph Jr.

Jockey: Tyler Gaffalione

Owner: C2 Racing and La Milagrosa Stable

Beyer Speed Figure: 97

The mutuel field, the 24th or “all others” option, is the 5-2 morning-line favorite for the third of five pools in the 2022 Kentucky Derby Future Wager. Pool 3 opens Friday at noon Eastern and runs through Sunday at 6 p.m.

Led by Breeders’ Cup winners Corniche and Echo Zulu, as well as last weekend’s significant prep winners – Early Voting, Messier, and White Abarrio – and major stakes winners Newgrange, Rattle N Roll, Slow Down Andy, and Smile Happy, a total of 312 3-year-olds have been made early nominees to this year’s Triple Crown.

The early nominations were announced Monday afternoon by Churchill Downs, which plays host to the first Triple Crown race, the Kentucky Derby, on May 7. The Preakness on May 21, and the Belmont on June 11, complete the series.

Grade 3, $200,000 Robert Lewis Stakes; 1 1/16 miles; Santa Anita; Feb. 5, 2022
(10 Derby qualifying points for first, 4 for second, 0 for third, 1 for fourth)

Winner: Messier, by Empire Maker

Trainer: Bob Baffert

Jockey: John Velazquez

Owner: SF Racing, Starlight Racing, Madaket Stables, Robert Masterson, Stonestreet Stables, Golconda Stable, Siena Farm, Waves Edge Capital, Catherine Donovan, and Jay Schoenfarber

Call Me Midnight worked a half-mile in 50.20 seconds Feb. 5 at Fair Grounds, his first breeze since upsetting the Lecomte Stakes on Jan. 22, but it’s far from certain this was a work toward the Feb. 19 Risen Star Stakes.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Giant Game was scheduled to undergo what trainer Dale Romans described as a minor throat procedure Tuesday after the colt, he said, “displaced his palate pretty bad” when a distant eighth Saturday in the Holy Bull at Gulfstream Park.

“It’s a very common procedure that’s done right in the horse’s stall,” Romans said. “Hopefully, this will correct whatever he’s got troubling him and we’ll have him back in training before the weekend.”