GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas – Somebody get this man a cowboy hat! Florida-based trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. will have his first Texas runner on Monday, when A. P.’s Secret starts as the possible favorite in the $300,000 Texas Derby. The 1 1/16-mile race is one of six stakes making up Lone Star Million Day. It’s also the penultimate leg of a 50-cent pick four on races 9-12 that will have a minimum guaranteed pool of $200,000. First post is 1:40 p.m. Central. A. P.’s Secret is part of a field of eight that includes Southern California invaders Got Thunder, Win the Day, and Fowler Blue. The Florida shipper exits the Grade 2 Wood Memorial at Aqueduct. He finished fourth in the April 9 race and since then runner-up Early Voting has come back to win the Preakness Stakes. A. P.’s Secret was beaten five lengths in the Wood Memorial. :: Get Daily Racing Form Past Performances – the exclusive home of Beyer Speed Figures “He’s a horse we think highly of,” Joseph said. “I thought in the Wood he ran decent – still was expecting more. But it was a credible performance. It was good to see Early Voting come back and win the Preakness. “He’s coming out of a race that seems productive, so hopefully he can build on that.” A. P.’s Secret will be the barn’s first starter at Lone Star. “The owner, A.P. Gentry, lives in Texas and said it would mean a lot for him to run in the race,” Joseph said. “He asked us to consider it. It makes sense, so we’re giving him a shot.” A. P.’s Secret will start from post 8 under Edwin Gonzalez. “I think he’s fowardly placed,” Joseph said. “He’s tactical. You can put him in a good place. We’ll leave that up to Edwin.” Got Thunder enters the Texas Derby off a maiden special weight win at the distance April 17 at Santa Anita. It came in his fifth start and his first against older horses. Prior to the race, Got Thunder had run well against a number of quality rivals, including Newgrange and Armagnac. “If you look at his early form he was favored in a lot of his races and he just found some excuses,” said trainer John Sadler. “Things happened, and he didn’t get the trip, and the one time on grass, he didn’t like the turf. He’s been running against a lot of the heavyheads.” Sadler said there were a couple of reasons the decision was made to target the Texas Derby with Got Thunder, a son of Arrogate and a half-brother to multiple Grade 1 winner Heart to Heart. “I thought he had a lot of quality, kind of late developer, and so once he got his maiden broke, I wanted to take a shot,” he said. “A lot of the races over here are 3 and up, but I wanted to take a shot with straight 3-year-olds. He’s doing really well, so we’re giving him a go.” “He happiest being in the clear,” Sadler said of Got Thunder. “He can come off the pace. He can go up close. He’s pretty versatile that way.” :: Want to start playing with a $510 bankroll and have access to free Formulator? Learn more Victor Espinoza has the mount from post 6 for Talla Racing and West Point Thoroughbreds. Trainers Steve Asmussen and Doug O’Neill each have two starters in the Texas Derby. Asmussen will saddle impressive Oaklawn Park allowance winner Presidential and the promising King Ottoman, while O’Neill will counter with Win the Day, the fifth-place finisher in the Santa Anita Derby, and Fowler Blue, the fourth-place finisher in the Sunland Derby. Sonny Leon will ride Fowler Blue in what will be one of the Kentucky Derby-winning jockey’s first mounts at Lone Star. He has two other stakes mounts on the card and will take part in an autograph session ontrack at 2 p.m. Central. The Texas Derby field is completed by Strike Hard, who was fourth in the Sam F. Davis, and Cover Me Up, runner-up to Creative Minister, eventual third-place finisher in the Preakness, in a Churchill Downs allowance May 7. Back to turf for Park Avenue Park Avenue put up the best Beyer Speed Figure of her career in her lone start on the grass and she will be returning to the surface Monday for the $200,000 Ouija Board Distaff. The one-mile turf race is for fillies and mares and drew a field of nine, including Avenue de France, who is coming off a stakes win at Golden Gate Fields. Park Avenue exits the Grade 2 Santa Margarita on April 30 at Santa Anita, a race in which she set a strong pace and finished fifth. Prior to the start, she won an allowance route on the grass at Santa Anita and earned a Beyer of 90. “Park Avenue is a really nice filly,” Sadler said. “I wanted to get her back on the grass because she ran a really super race on the turf. “She’s won on both [dirt and turf], but after her last race, which was a tad disappointing, I said, ‘Let’s get her right back on grass,’ and this race, the spacing made good sense.” Espinoza has the mount from post 9 for Hronis Racing. Archidust in Chamberlain Bridge The stakes action starts in the seventh race with the $100,000 Chamberlain Bridge. It will be run over five furlongs on the grass. Archidust, a six-time stakes winner, will be looking to improve his record over the Lone Star course to 3 for 5. Stewart Elliott has the mount for Asmussen. ◗ Grade 1 winner Kalypso will take on defending winner Our Iris Rose in the $100,000 Memorial Day Sprint for fillies and mares at six furlongs. Our Iris Rose is a full sister to Grade 3 Sunland Derby winner Runaway Ghost and a half-sister to Sheriff Brown, who runs later on the card in the Grade 3, $400,000 Steve Sexton Mile. ◗ Empire of Gold might be sitting on a peak race in the new $100,000 Speightstown Sprint, which will mark the third start of his form cycle. The six-furlong stakes for 3-year-olds and up also drew 10-time stakes winner Mr Money Bags and Oaklawn allowance winner Macron. Isaac Castillo is in to ride Macron for Asmussen, while Ernesto Valdez-Jiminez will once again be aboard Mr Money Bags for trainer Jaylan Clary. ◗ Lone Star will give away a car and have live music and food trucks onsite Monday for what is its richest card of the meet. The six stakes are worth $1.2 million. The forecast calls for sunny skies and a high of 91 degrees, according to AccuWeather.