Perhaps the headline race is the Grade 3 Holy Bull at Gulfstream, which marks the season debut of last year’s champion two-year-old colt, Fierceness, who won the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile by a half-dozen lengths and is the 3-5 morning line favorite here. Here’s a quick look at the races:

GRADE 3 WITHERS (AQU): Post time 3:55 EST

One of the nine runners in this lightly accomplished field will get the first open-company stakes win of his career. Three of them own state-restricted stakes wins.

One who doesn’t is the favorite, #3 Lightline (8-5). The Brad Cox trainee is owned by Albaugh Family Stables LLC – the same connections who steered Pennsylvania-bred Angel of Empire to a win in the Grade 1 Arkansas Derby and a third-place finish in the Kentucky Derby last year. This City of Light colt has a maiden win from three starts and last out was second in an Oaklawn allowance behind Carbone, who is 9-2 on the morning line for the Southwest.

Midlantic racing fans should have plenty to keep them interested in this one, as three horses based here are entered. Brittany Russell sends out the Laurel-based Mission Beach (6-1) following a Laurel allowance win. Butch Reid has Wait For It Stakes winner Uncle Heavy (10-1), a Pennsylvania-bred named for his brother Mark. And Uriah St. Lewis sends out Parx-based maiden winner Deposition (50-1).

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GRADE 3 ROBERT B. LEWIS (SA): Post time 5:23 EST

When is a Kentucky Derby prep not a Kentucky Derby prep? When it’s got a bunch of Bob Baffert trainees in the field; Baffert is currently banned by Churchill Downs from participating in the Derby.

He’s got three in this nine-horse field, including morning line favorite Nysos (4-5). The Nyquist colt is two-for-two to start his career, winning his races, including the Grade 3 Bob Hope at Del Mar, by a combined total of more than 19 lengths. Baffert also has Coach Prime (5-1) and Wine Me Up (6-1), both logical contenders.

In the non-Baffert portion of the race, look for Stronghold (6-1) to take some money. Trained by Phil D’Amato, he was second in Nysos’ Bob Hope win and second again, behind another Baffert trainee, Wynstock, in the Grade 2 Los Alamitos Futurity. He’ll get blinkers on for this contest.

GRADE 3 HOLY BULL (GP): Post time 5:45 EST

It’s Fierceness and everybody else down in south Florida. The champ is 3-5 on the morning line for trainer Todd Pletcher and Repole Stable, the same connections whose 2022 juvenile champion, Forte, was a day-of scratch from the Kentucky Derby.

Fierceness is two-for-three, with two stellar efforts bookending a disastrous outing in the Champagne, when he finished seventh of eight at 1-2 odds on a sloppy strip. Johnny Velazquez has the mount.

Inclined to try to beat the chalk? The pickings are slimmish.

One reasonable option is Otello (9-2). He’s two-for-two to start his career, including a win in the one-mile Mucho Macho Man over the strip. This will be the Christophe Clement trainee’s first two-turn try, but his breeding – by Curlin out of an Eskendereya mare, Isabella Sings, who was a multiple graded stakes winner on turf – says distance shouldn’t be an issue here.

Another option is Hades (6-1). The Joe Orseno trainee is also two-for-two, albeit against lesser company. But he thrashed state-bred allowance foes the way a good horse should in last, drawing away to win by eight, and should be a pace factor if nothing else.

Besides Fierceness, only one other horse here owns a two-turn win. That’s Domestic Product (8-1) for Chad Brown. He broke his maiden going 1 1/8 miles but was cooked after being close to a fast early pace in the Grade 2 Remsen, finishing seventh. Tyler Gaffalione has the mount.

GRADE 3 SOUTHWEST (OP): Post time 5:50 EST

Another Baffert trainee Wynstock (4-1), looks to be a major player in here. But this $800,000 race has drawn a bumper crop of 12 and is a wide-open affair.

Maycocks Bay (3-1) is the morning line favorite. The Michael Stidham trainee seemed to take a big step forward last out, when thrashing an off-the-turf allowance field at the Fair Grounds by almost 11. Did the addition of Lasix help? Could be, but if so, that’s not great news for this one, since stakes races are no-Lasix events.

Springboard Mile winner Otto the Conqueror (5-1) has won three straight for trainer Steve Asmussen and brings a cool name to the table. Carbone (9-2) is here, too, with a spotless two-for-two ledger by a combined dozen lengths. Smarty Jones Stakes runner-up Just Steel (8-1) has an experience edge, having already made eight starts.

And the race also includes possible value play Liberal Arts (8-1). The Robert Medina trainee kicks off his sophomore campaign after a two-year-old season that concluded with a win in the Grade 3 Street Sense at Churchill Downs. Cristian Torres, who rode him to victory that day, comes in for the mount.