HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Nominations have been released for the 10 stakes races to be decided here on March 29, topped by the mile and one-eighth, $1 million Florida Derby. The Grade 1 Florida Derby, among the key Kentucky Derby preps on the national schedule over the next several weeks, attracted 40 nominees although a small but select field is expected. The lineup is likely to include Grade 2 Fountain of Youth winner Sovereignty; Tappan Street, runner-up in the Grade 3 Holy Bull; Disruptor, from the barn of Todd Pletcher; and Neoequos, who finished a tiring third after contesting the pace to midstretch of the Fountain of Youth. Trainer Bob Baffert has five nominated to the Florida Derby and said Monday it’s a “big maybe” when asked if he might ship someone east for the race. Baffert, who added “things change daily,” said Grade 2 Rebel runner-up Madaket Road is currently the most likely candidate to make the trip to South Florida. Sovereignty and Tappan Street turned in their penultimate Florida Derby preps Saturday at Payson Park, breezing five furlongs in 1:01.80 seconds and 1:00.80, respectively. Trainer Bill Mott noted he is extremely pleased with the progress Sovereignty has made since his courageous neck decision over River Thames in the Fountain of Youth. “He woke up, he wouldn’t have been working like that before the race,” said Mott. :: Get Gulfstream Park Clocker Reports from Mike Welsch and the Clocker Team. Available every race day. Trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. gained a lot of confidence in Neoequos’s chances of upsetting the Florida Derby after a terrific five-furlong work here Sunday morning. Breezing in company, Neoequos completed the distance in 58.89 seconds, going easily under jockey Tyler Gaffalione while having to fan wide around another worker into the stretch. Neoequos galloped out with plenty of energy, easing up after six panels in 1:11.80 while working into a mild headwind down the lane and into the clubhouse turn. “We were looking for a strong work, and we got it,” said Joseph. “He’s coming into the race as best as he can. The question is still the distance. But we feel Sovereignty will be the favorite, he only beat us a few lengths the last time and if we can improve and he does not, who knows. And this race is worth an extra $200,000 or so [in bonuses] to us because our horse is Florida-bred and Florida-sired.” The second set after Neoequos completed his work Sunday included Grade 1 Pegasus World Cup winner White Abarrio, who will make his next start in the Grade 3 Ghostzapper on the Florida Derby undercard. White Abarrio breezed five furlongs in company in 1:00.04, finishing under wraps before galloping out seven panels in 1:26.85. “It was a very good work but we didn’t want him going quite as strong as he did before the Pegasus,” Joseph explained. “We’re hoping everything goes right and we win the next one but our main objective is to have him peaking for our next main goal, which is the Met Mile.” Here Comes Francis earns a 97 Here Comes Francis proved one of the top stars here this past weekend after launching his career with a gate-to-wire, 1 1/2-length maiden victory over another promising youngster, Pursuitneversleeps, in Saturday’s eighth race for which the winner was awarded a gaudy 97 Beyer Speed Figure. Here Comes Francis, a 3-year-old son of Improbable, is trained by Victor Barboza Jr. and races for the Arcadia Michigan Stable. He was purchased at the 2024 OBS April sale for $250,000. Here Comes Francis defeated a field that included first-time starter Vibe, a $3 million Keeneland purchase in 2023. Vibe, by Into Mischief and a half-brother to Grade 1 winner Outwork, finished a tiring and well-beaten fourth as the even-money favorite. Rainbow force-out pays $28K Despite the Rainbow 6 jackpot getting solved for a $298,604 payoff on Thursday, and with a two-day carryover of only a little over $80,000, business was better than expected for Sunday’s latest mandatory force-out of the jackpot. Bettors ponied up nearly $1.4 million in new money to try their luck at the daunting six-race sequence, which ultimately resulted in a generous $28,442 payout for each 20-cent winning ticket. The force-outs have been coming at just two-week intervals during the latter part of the Championship meet. :: Play Gulfstream Park with confidence! DRF Past Performances, Picks, and Clocker Reports available now. Hard-knockers square off The Wednesday main event is a modest $41,000 starter-allowance dash carded at 5 1/2 furlongs over the Tapeta strip that lured a field of seven. The race includes the stakes-winning Panther Island, who will compete under a $50,000 claiming tag exiting his 11th-place finish in the Gulfstream Park Turf Sprint eight weeks ago. Panther Island, who captured the Janus Stakes on turf in December 2023 and has been stakes-placed on three occasions since that effort, will take on a group of hard-knocking older runners. Among the key contenders are Poulin in O T and Moon Landing, both of whom won mid-level conditioned-claiming races over the surface earlier this winter, and Old Chestnut, who posted a 95 Beyer Figure over the synthetic track at Woodbine in his 2024 finale. – additional reporting by David Grening