All-Florida final

University School set for national title game.

Top three year olds meet for chance at $1 million purse and qualifying points for the Kentucky Derby.

HALLANDALE BEACH — The Florida Derby, which will be run for the 67th time Saturday at Gulfstream, is a coveted prize and a leading indicator of equine talent.

The race has produced 44 winners of 59 Triple Crown races, including 24 Kentucky Derby champions, three in the past five years. This year, more than the usual drama will be in play.

In addition to the $1 million purse and Grade 1 credentials, the leading contenders will be pursuing crucial Kentucky Derby qualifying points, which will be distributed on a 100-40-20-10 basis for a first- through fourth-place finish. A win or place by any of the nine starters could propel them to Churchill Downs the first Saturday in May.

Audible, the 9-5 morning line favorite, and third choice Catholic Boy are in precarious positions for horses of their stature. Each probably needs at least a second-place finish to avoid being shut out of the Churchill Downs starting gate. The borderline is expected to be 40 points. Audible has only 10, Catholic Boy 14.

Second choice Promises Fulfilled, who earned 50 points for winning the Grade 2 the Fountain of Youth, is safely into the Kentucky Derby field. Strike Power, second in the Fountain of Youth, has 20 points and might make the Derby with a third-place finish.

The deficiencies for Audible and Catholic Boy are products of a system heavily back-loaded toward March and April. Audible won the Holy Bull on Feb. 3. Catholic Boy was second in the Sam F. Davis at Tampa Bay Downs on Feb. 10. Promises Fulfilled’s Fountain of Youth score and Strike Power’s runner-up finish came on March 3.

Audible is 3-for-3 all in races of a mile or longer, since running third in his career debut sprinting. He had a challenging trip in the Holy Bull, racing between horses through the early stages before shifting into another gear on the turn and breaking the race open at the top of the stretch. Trainer Todd Pletcher and jockey John Velazquez have each won the Florida Derby a record four times.

Promises Fulfilled is also 3-for-4 with a third-place finish. His trainer, Dale Romans, said the colt should be undefeated. He injured his shin in his only loss, the Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes, yet still fought gamely to the wire. That race has produced the winners of five 3-year-old stakes. Robby Albarado, who rode Promises Fulfilled to his first two career victories, is back in the saddle.

Promises Fulfilled’s Fountain of Youth victory came under ideal circumstances. He established an early lead, which went uncontested in reasonable fractions, and held it to the finish. He is unlikely to get the same scenario in the Florida Derby.

Strike Power was content to sit second then could not make up ground on the stillfresh leader. His trainer, Mark Henning, said that having drawn the groundsaving rail, it will be a go from the start this time. Luis Saez, who won seven races Thursday to tie the all-time Gulfstream record for wins in a season, will ride.

A contested, hot pace should work to the advantage of Audible and Catholic Boy, both of whom prefer to come from off the pace. Catholic Boy’s trainer, Jonathan Thomas, said his horse was not fully wound up for Entries, 7C the Tampa race, which he treated as a prep for the Florida Derby. Nevertheless, Catholic Boy overcame a wide trip to miss by only a half-length. He is the only horse in the field with a win at the Florida Derby’s mile-and-an-eighth distance. Irad Ortiz, New York’s leading rider in 2014 and 2015, takes over for Manny Franco.

Of the other five starters, Hofburg is the most interesting. He scored an impressive maiden win last time out and his trainer, Hall of Famer Bill Mott, is not known for throwing winners of only one race into the fire of a Grade 1 stakes.

Romans has a second starter, Storm Runner, who has been widely touted by the trainer, but backed up to seventh in the Fountain of Youth after experiencing early trouble.

Mississippi, who drew the unfavorable outside post, has a win and two seconds in his past three starts, but is making his stakes debut. Millionaire Runner and Tip Sheet are each former claiming horses with unappealing records.

The Florida Derby is the 14th race on a program that begins at 11:30 a.m. General admission and parking are free.

Derby winner returns

Always Dreaming, who won last season’s Florida Derby and went on to take the Kentucky Derby, makes his seasonal debut in the $300,000 Gulfstream Park Mile, race 8, with an approximate post time of 3 p.m.

Among his five rivals is Irish War Cry, winner of the 2017 Holy Bull and second in the Belmont Stakes.