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One colt ran himself into the “Derby Dozen” and another ran himself right out in a pair of Derby prep races Saturday, the weekend’s only major 3-year-old action.

Stephen Got Even joins the list after his big victory in the Gallery Furniture.com Stakes at Turfway Park. But last year’s Laurel Futurity winner Millions was a dismal seventh in the Private Terms Stakes at Laurel, his first start of the year.

Stephen Got Even, making his stakes debut after two straight allowance victories at Gulfstream Park this winter, charged from off the pace to win the Grade 2, $750,000 Gallery Furniture.com (formerly known as the Jim Beam) by two and a half lengths over K One King, who had another five lengths on Epic Honor in third.

The son of 1992 Horse of the Year A.P. Indy, who ran the mile and an eighth in a sharp 1:49, was even more impressive given the fact he was six wide around both turns.

“But when you’re on the best horse, as I was [Saturday], he overcame it and ran a monster race,” said jockey Shane Sellers, who has some tough choices to make with under five weeks to the May 1 Run for the Roses. He’s also the regular rider of two other Derby Dozen colts, Vicar and Ecton Park.

“It’s hard to compare,” he said. “It would be unfair for me to do that.”

The victory was ironic in that Stephen Got Even is trained by Nick Zito, who was the trainer for Jim McIngvale – the owner of Gallery Furniture and sponsor of the stakes – until “Mattress Mac,” as he is known, took the horses away and gave them to his night watchman to train.

Zito, who gained a reputation as a top Derby trainer by winning the roses in 1991 with Strike the Gold and in ’94 with Go for Gin, has been overshadowed since then by D. Wayne Lukas and Bob Baffert, who saddled the last four winners.

Zito would love to be king of the hill once again and now shows a pair of aces with Stephen Got Even and Wondertross. Zito also has a third ace in the hole in Adonis, who runs in the April 10 Wood Memorial at the Big A.

Millions, who stamped himself one to watch as a 3-year-old after finishing second by a neck in last year’s Remsen, spent the winter training in Camden S.C., and his first start was delayed when he ran a fever several weeks ago.

Heavily favored at 2-5 in the mile and a sixteenth Private Terms, he was off slowly, made a move heading into the far turn but backed up badly to lose by more than 13 lengths.

Another horse whose Derby future is in doubt is Baffert’s previously unbeaten Straight Man, who shipped in from California to be favored in the Gallery Furniture.com, set the pace but faded to finish a well-beaten fourth.

“He was laying in perfect position, then he got tired,” Baffert said. “The track is a little loose and he’s not used to that.”

Other disappointments in the race were another West Coast invader, Lethal Instrument (who finished fifth); The Groom Is Red (sixth); and Aly’s Alley (seventh).

“He ran very poorly,” said Lethal Instrument’s rider Chris McCarron. “He stopped at the top of the stretch and I don’t know why.”

“We never did any serious running,” said Pat Day, who rode The Groom Is Red. “It was a pretty lackluster performance.”

“I guess we were asking him to do more than he could handle” John Tammaro Jr., the trainer of Aly’s Alley, said. “I guess he’s not good enough.”

*

Alex Solis will ride last year’s 2-year-old champ, Answer Lively, in the Arkansas Derby. Certain, third in the Fountain of Youth and fourth in the Florida Derby, will make his next start in that race.

Godolphin Stable will send Prado’s Landing, third behind Worldly Manner and Aljabr in a trial race at Nad Al Sheba racetrack in Dubai last week, to the Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland April 10.

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