HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - The countdown until Kentucky Derby day officially began in trainer Todd Pletcher’s barn on Sunday, the morning after Forte solidified his position as this year’s Derby favorite with a gritty and hard-fought one-length victory over the ever-improving Mage in Saturday’s $1 million Florida Derby. “Four weeks and six days to go,” Pletcher said after confirming that all was well with Forte, who returned to his regular stall at the Palm Beach Downs training center earlier that morning. Forte is one of three potential Derby starters currently in Pletcher’s barn, along with Louisiana Derby winner Kingsbarns and Tampa Bay Derby winner Tapit Trice, who still has one more hurdle to clear - Saturday’s Blue Grass - prior to the big dance.   “We’re fortunate to be in the position we’re in right now,” Pletcher acknowledged on Sunday. “One of the reasons we wanted to run (Forte) back in the Florida Derby is because I liked that extra week to the Kentucky Derby, which might pay dividends after the race he ran yesterday.” :: Get ready for Gulfstream Park racing with DRF Past Performances, Picks, and Clocker Reports.  Forte certainly got himself an education during the Florida Derby after having his trip compromised by drawing post 11 with the short run to the first turn in races run at 1 1/8 miles at Gulfstream Park.  Taken back early by jockey Irad Ortiz Jr., Forte rallied from near the rear of the bulky 12-horse field while taking plenty of dirt along the way before finally wearing down Mage, who appeared to have the race firmly in his grasp at midstretch, in the closing strides to win going clear. Afterward Pletcher was weighing the plusses and minuses of his horse having such a grueling effort in his final Derby prep, as opposed to the relatively clean run he’d had cruising to an easy victory four weeks earlier in the Grade 2 Fountain of Youth. “A lot of great things happened (Saturday) that are going to help us move forward,” Pletcher said. “There was a crowded paddock. A very extended post parade. A lot of things that worry you as it plays out, and that we’re obviously going to encounter at Churchill Downs. He got on his toes, but in a good way, and maintained his composure so all of that was good. The most encouraging thing, for me, was the way he finished that last 100 yards going a mile and one eighth after some adversity. It give me added confidence that a mile and one quarter is going to be fine. Some people say you have to have a hard race before the Kentucky Derby. For me, I’ll always take the easiest way. But we have five weeks. I just hope the next five weeks are as good as the last five months have been for him.”     Make that four weeks and six days now. Time was also part of the post-Florida Derby story after representatives of the Beyer Speed Figures confirmed they had lowered Forte’s winning Beyer number from 98 to 95 based on a corrected final time of 1:49.39 for the 1 1/8 miles, as calculated by Randy Moss. The final time of the race was originally reported as 1:48.51 on the official Equibase chart for the Florida Derby before being switched to 1:49.37 late Sunday afternoon. Mage was also doing very well the morning after his courageous second-place effort following a poor start and wide trip in the Florida Derby. “Not only did he come back in very good shape energy-wise, he seems to be doing even better today than he did the morning after his previous two races,” assistant trainer Gustavo Delgado Jr. said Sunday. “In fact, we were really surprised how well he came back. We were expecting him to be a little knocked out after the effort he gave us yesterday.” Delgado said Mage’s gate issues - he also came away slowly at the start of the Fountain of Youth - will be the main focus moving toward the Kentucky Derby. “We’re going to be paying special attention to the gate problem,” Delgado admitted. “But the one thing we did get coming out of this race was a lot more confidence in our horse. After the previous race, we thought maybe we just can’t beat Forte, as dominant as he’d been in all his races dating back to last year. But after yesterday, we started wondering what might have happened if our horse broke well and had better position. All of a sudden we’re thinking maybe we could have and can beat that horse now. And he’s the big favorite in the Kentucky Derby. One thing we do know, our horse is getting better and better with every start. Naturally we are aware of the fact we’ve asked him to do a lot in a short period of time, so we’ll let him tell us what to do moving forward. Right now the plan is to run in the Derby. But if we see any signs that indicate we shouldn’t, we will skip the race and re-route him somewhere else.”  Mage, who was ridden for the first time by Luis Saez in the Florida Derby, could also need a new jockey for the Kentucky Derby. Saez is also the regular rider for Tapit Trice. “We’ve been getting a lot of good feedback on this horse from yesterday’s race, one of which are all the calls we’ve gotten from agents in case we need to make a change of rider,” Delgado said. “We’d love to have Luis back, but we’ve also got to have a plan B ready if necessary.” Forte and Mage could be joined in the Kentucky Derby lineup by Cyclone Mischief, whose third-place finish in the Florida Derby after striking the lead briefly between calls in early stretch gave him 45 qualifying points, currently putting him in 15th place on the leaderboard. His trainer, Louisville native Dale Romans, is hopeful that will be enough to get him a spot in the field on May 6. “We got beat three lengths by the best horse in the country and we’re on the improve,” Romans said immediately after the race. “We’ve got 45 points. I think that should be enough. And now we’re all going back to my track for the next one.” - Additional reporting by David Grening :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.