HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Eight years after Orb took no prisoners marching through South Florida en route to victory in the 2013 Kentucky Derby, trainer Shug McGaughey will look to duplicate those exploits when he sends out Greatest Honour as the solid favorite over 10 other 3-year-olds in Saturday’s $750,000 Florida Derby at Gulfstream Park.

The likelihood of a contested pace that should help his late run, and the hope that he can’t possibly get in as much trouble as he did in his last start, makes Hard Rye Guy an appealing prospect to score a mild upset in the Grade 3, $250,000 Jeff Ruby Steaks on Saturday at Turfway Park.

Parnelli, well beaten in two graded stakes for 3-year-olds in January, will start in the Grade 1 Runhappy Santa Anita Derby on April 3, joining a field that has increased in size in recent days following the defection of race favorite Life Is Good.

Parnelli worked five furlongs in 1:01 on Wednesday at Santa Anita.

“He was very strong and into the bridle,” trainer John Shirreffs said. “He galloped out nicely.”

Shirreffs said the absence of Life Is Good due to injury has influenced the decision to start Parnelli, who will be a longshot.

Collaborate is trying to go from an unstarted maiden at the beginning of February to a prominent Kentucky Derby contender in less than three months, a meteoric rise that’s a microcosm of that of his trainer, Saffie Joseph Jr.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – There was one sure thing when it came to Wednesday’s all-important post-position draw for Saturday’s $750,000 Florida Derby. When Spielberg’s name was called, it marked the first time a horse trained by Hall of Famer Bob Baffert had ever been drawn for Gulfstream Park’s cornerstone event for 3-year-olds, which offers 170 qualifying points for the Kentucky Derby on May 1.

Greatest Honour

Tapit – Tiffany’s Honour, by Street Cry

Bred in Kentucky by Courtlandt Farm

Greatest Honour, who is seeking his third consecutive graded stakes win at Gulfstream Park in Saturday’s Grade 1 Florida Derby, has established himself as a standout contender for the Kentucky Derby. He has a pedigree suited to the 1 1/4-mile Derby – but perhaps even more tailor-made for the 1 1/2-mile Belmont Stakes.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Mike Shanley is a Villanova University graduate and a huge fan of the school’s basketball program, but pardon the 74-year-old retired attorney if he is preoccupied when the Wildcats face heavily favored Baylor in the NCAA tournament late Saturday afternoon.

“As much as I love the school and Villanova basketball, both of my eyes are going to be focused on that racetrack,” Shanley said with a chuckle this week from Ocean Ridge, Fla.

WHO’S HOT

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - Big Lake, who was third in the Grade 2, $1 million Rebel in his last start March 13 at Oaklawn Park, emerged from the race with an injury and will be sidelined indefinitely, trainer Steve Asmussen said Tuesday.

Asmussen said Big Lake came out of the Rebel with a condylar fracture in one of his legs.

Big Lake had won a maiden special weight and a first-level allowance, both at Fair Grounds, prior to making his stakes debut in the Rebel. For his third-place finish he earned 10 points for the Kentucky Derby.

Eight new names are among the separately listed interests in the fifth and final pool of the 2021 Kentucky Derby Future Wager, which opens Friday at noon Eastern for the customary three-day run.

Essential Quality is listed as the 3-1 morning-line favorite in Pool 5, followed closely by Greatest Honour (4-1), Concert Tour (9-2), and Hot Rod Charlie (6-1). The mutuel field, the 24th or “all others” option, is listed at 20-1 after closing as the favorite in the first three pools.