3-year-olds have good pre-Derby showings

Afleet Alex and Declan's Moon are No. 1 and 2 after weekend racing.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. (AP) -- Finally, some Kentucky Derby buzz.
From Florida to Arkansas to California, 3-year-olds were out in force Saturday trying to show whether they truly are contenders for the Derby just two months away.
And the three top prospects going in only added to their impressive credentials.
Afleet Alex and Declan's Moon won in their long-awaited seasonal debuts, while High Fly soared to victory in the 11/8-mile Fountain of Youth Stakes at Gulfstream Park.
The results solidified Afleet Alex and Declan's Moon's rankings as 1-2 in the latest Run to the Roses' Top 10, while High Fly moves in for the first time at No. 4.
A last-minute decision to run Afleet Alex in the Mountain Valley Stakes, a six-furlong race at Oaklawn Park, seems like a good move.
Now it's on to the Rebel Stakes and then the Arkansas Derby, giving the colt the traditional three prep races before the Kentucky Derby.
"This race under him is better than five works," trainer Tim Ritchey explained.
"Things went according to plan."
Ditto for Declan's Moon, the 2-year-old champion who improved to 5-for-5 with a two-length win over Wild Again in the 1 1-16th-mile Santa Catalina Stakes at Santa Anita.
The gelding will have only one more Derby prep -- the Santa Anita Derby on April 9.
"I think I've got the bomb," trainer Ron Ellis said.
Chasing history
Only one horse in the last 57 years -- Sunny's Halo in 1983 -- has won the Derby off two 3-year-old prep races.
Trainer Nick Zito, meanwhile, has the biggest arsenal of all with no less than four bona fide Derby hopefuls -- his recently acquired High Fly, allowance winner Noble Causeway, Sun King and Andromeda's Hope.
High Fly was transferred to Zito's barn by Live Oak Plantation's Charlotte Weber after the colt's only loss -- a third-place finish in the Holy Bull on Feb. 5 under trainer Bill White.
"Nick has had experience going to the Derby," Weber said.
"He's been down this road before."
Zito won the Derby with Strike the Gold in 1991 and with Go for Gin in 1994.
Last year, he had three Derby prospects, but only The Cliff's Edge made it to the race, finishing fifth.
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