A few years ago we never would have considered putting a horse like Quality Road atop the Derby Dozen.

For one, the winner of last Saturday’s Florida Derby only raced once as a 2-year-old, that in a sprint. We prefer Derby contenders that were stakes-class 2-year-olds going a distance.

Second, Quality Road lacks seasoning. He’s run just four times, and the Florida Derby was his first start going two turns.

Third, he won’t race again until the May 2 Derby. In the half-century preceding Barbaro in 2006, no horse won the roses off a layoff of five weeks or more.

Four, his trainer, Jimmy Jerkens, has never been to the Derby before.

But the Derby landscape has changed a lot over the past few years. Of the last 10 winners, only Funny Cide, Barbaro and Street Sense were stakes winners going a mile or longer at 2. Last year, Big Brown won the Derby by 4 3/4 lengths from post 20 off just three starts. He did it coming off a five-week layoff after winning the Florida Derby, just as Barbaro did.

As for Jerkens, the son of legendary Hall of Fame horseman Allen “The Chief” Jerkens, being a Derby rookie: In the last six years, Rick Dutrow Jr., Michael Matz, John Shirreffs, John Servis and Barclay Tagg all won the roses with their first Derby starter.

Off his tour-de-force in the Florida Derby, Quality Road vaults into the Dozen’s top spot. The son of Elusive Quality, 6-5 stretching out from a mile to a mile-and-an-eighth, stalked a solid pace (:23.49, :46.83) while setting in nicely under John Velazquez and cruised to the lead while in hand around the far turn. Then, when even-money favorite Dunkirk and 7-2 Theregoesjojo made a run at him turning for home, Velazquez finally asked Quality Road for run, and the huge (17-hand) colt responded, repulsing Dunkirk’s bid and drawing clear late to score by 1 3/4 lengths in track-record time of 1:47.72.

The victory was Quality Road’s third in four starts, and coming on the heels of his runaway in the Feb. 28 Fountain of Youth, suggests he’s the most talented 3-year-old of this crop. He came home the final furlong in :12.44, a good indication he’ll handle the mile-and-a-quarter at Churchill Downs.

Furthermore, Quality Road has an outstanding Derby pedigree. His sire, the sire of Smarty Jones, is from the Mr. Prospector line that’s produced eight of the last 13 Derby winners. Quality Road’s dam, Kobla, is a full-sister to champion filly Ajina; their sire, Strawberry Road, a descendant of Nijinsky and Northern Dancer, could run all day. This bottom line traces back to the blue hen broodmare Myrtlewood, ancestress of both Mr. Prospector and Seattle Slew.

Dunkirk, making just his third start, ran heroically in defeat, mounting a strong rally on the far turn. But he could not stay with Quality Road in deep stretch, which trainer Todd Pletcher seemed to blame on the track.

“They obviously sped the racetrack up,” he said. “It’s been speed-favoring all day. If I’d have known the track was going to be like this, I would have went to Aqueduct (for this Saturday’s Wood Memorial).”

With only $150,000 in graded stakes earnings, Dunkirk might not make the final cut for the Derby. That might be the best thing for him, because his finish in the Florida Derby suggests he lacks the necessary seasoning. There is a reason why no horse that did not race as a 2-year-old has won the Derby since 1882.

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One of the silliest hours in horseracing on TV, if not in all sports, came to an end with the announcement that ESPN will not televise this year’s Derby draw.