Top pick: #4 (WEST SIDE BERNIE) - Looks to be coming into this ready for a peak effort. He won the "Kentucky Cup" on this course last fall and was not disgraced in the "Breeder's Cup Juvenile" at Santa Anita after racing wide from an outside post. He followed that up with a third-place finish at Delta Downs in the $1,000,000 "Jackpot" stakes to close out his juvenile year. Seasonal debut at Gulfstream saw him finish third rallying into modest fractions on a speed-favoring strip in the "Holy Bull". Freshened-up since by trainer Kelly Breen, he can win this from a stalking position. One of only three runners entered here to have a win on this surface.
2nd pick: #2 (Bittel Road) - Turf runner has done well in his pair of "poly" starts, the latest of which saw him finish a close-up fourth at Santa Anita on February 7 to serious Derby contender "Pioneer of the Nile". Freshened-up since by trainer Todd Pletcher, he's training well for this, draws a good post, and has Garrett Gomez aboard.
3rd pick: #1 (Hold Me Back) - Son of "Giant's Causeway" makes his three-year-old debut today off a four-month layoff for "Hall of Fame" trainer Bill Mott. Beaten in the "Remsen" stakes by "Old Fashioned", colt had won his first two starts, both on poly surfaces. Tough spot off the bench, but he's been in steady training in Florida all winter.