HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Mystik Dan will likely make his next start in the Grade 1, $1.5 million Arkansas Derby on March 30 after he established himself as a 3-year-old of significance Saturday with his eight-length win in the Grade 3, $800,000 Southwest at Oaklawn Park. Mystik Dan earned a career-high Beyer Speed Figure of 101 for his effort in the 1 1/16-mile race that was delayed a week due to inclement weather. Trainer Kenny McPeek on Sunday was pleased with how Mystik Dan has emerged from the race and said while he will be nominated to the next local Kentucky Derby points race  in the series, the Grade 2, $1.25 million Rebel on Feb. 24, he’s leaning toward giving the horse the additional time between starts.  “More than likely what we’re going to do is skip the Rebel and just wait for the Arkansas Derby and let him have some spacing,” McPeek said. “He’ll do well doing that.”  McPeek on Sunday was determining whether Mystik Dan would return to his Fair Grounds division, where he had done some of his training up to the Southwest due to the inclement weather that hit Arkansas, or remain with his division at Oaklawn. :: Bet the races with a $200 First Deposit Match + FREE All Access PPs! Join DRF Bets.  “We’re contemplating that right now, just trying to figure it all out,” he said.  Mystik Dan on Saturday stalked the pace from the rail under jockey Brian Hernandez Jr. He accelerated into the stretch while continuing to maintain his position on the fence, then began to separate himself from runner-up Just Steel coming to the eighth pole. Mystik Dan was in hand coming to the wire, while covering the distance on a sealed track upgraded to muddy in 1:43.67. McPeek said he liked the “turn of foot,” displayed by Mystik Dan. “We knew he’s extremely fast - he’d shown that in a sprint race when he broke his maiden,” McPeek said. “But the fact that he was very tactical and relaxed and turned it on when you needed him to turn it on was really nice to watch. And I thought Brian handled him beautiful.”  Just Steel emerged from his effort in good order and will be seriously considered for a start in the Rebel, trainer D. Wayne Lukas said Sunday. Just Steel tracked the pace after breaking from post 11 under Ramon Vazquez, advanced three wide on the final turn, and battled with Mystik Dan to about the eighth pole. Just Steel continued on and held off third-place finisher Liberal Arts by a neck.  “We had a very good trip, except that we had to ask him to run a lot more than we’d have liked the first half of a mile,” Lukas said. “The percentage of winners from post position 11 here is about 2 percent. And so, he got away with getting over and getting around the first turn, but you got to use them, you got to ask them. Instead of sitting there and rating you got to ask them to get over there to the backside and position. And he did that and [Vazquez] had to ask him and I was a little worried about the finish. That coupled with the fact that I’ve only got him about 80 percent where I want him.”  Lukas looks for a move forward next out from Just Steel.  “He got a lot out of it,” he said of the Southwest. “He’s getting better seasoning. I haven’t leaned on him a lot, which I will start to do, get him ready to finish up a little better for us.  “I think we got to take a serious look at the Rebel, even though it’s back in three weeks. He’s a big, powerful horse, probably carrying a little excess weight, a little more than I’d like to see on him. I think rather than give him a couple of hard works, I’d rather jut go ahead and drop him in there.”  Liberal Arts closed from ninth for third in the Southwest in what was his first start since October, when he won the Grade 3 Street Sense at Churchill Downs.  “I liked the way he finished yesterday,” trainer Robbie Medina said Sunday. “The last eighth of a mile seemed to be the best running he did. And he galloped out very strong. He’s crying out for a little more distance. Very confident going to the next one.”  Medina said Liberal Arts emerged from the race in good order and could make his next start in either the Arkansas Derby or the Grade 1, $1 million Blue Grass at Keeneland on April 6.  “The Rebel is back in three weeks and I’m probably just going to wait for the Arkansas Derby or Blue Grass,” he said Sunday. Medina said Liberal Arts was scheduled to ship back to his Kentucky base later Sunday.  Carbone, the favorite in the Southwest who finished seventh, and Otto the Conqueror, who finished sixth after setting the pace, emerged from the Southwest in good order, according to trainer Steve Asmussen.  “I was pleased with how they came out of the race – not the outcome we wanted,” he said Sunday. “There were a lot of variables for those two big colts – training didn’t go exactly according to plan because of the weather. We’ll see what we do next, according to how they train.”  Oaklawn was hit with a winter storm Jan. 14 and the track was closed for training for 10 consecutive days. Carbone came into the Southwest with a 2-for-2 record, his most recent a sharp allowance-route victory. Otto the Conqueror was seeking to win his fourth straight race in a win streak that included the $300,000 Springboard Mile at Remington Park.  Common Defense, who was fifth in the Southwest, is possible for the Rebel, McPeek said Saturday. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.