We interrupt this headlong dash toward the Kentucky Derby with a pre-Derby Saturday of racing across North America. Three-year-olds, the glamour division of the next six weeks, have races at Oaklawn Park (Bachelor), Golden Gate Fields (California Derby and California Oaks), and Woodbine (Star Shoot), but let’s give older route horses some love. Californian I was taken by Shaaz’s debut and dove into the past performances for this race thinking he might be the one to upset Express Train. Shaaz is an interesting horse and improved again last out after a relatively modest second start. There’s encouraging workout video since his most recent race, but the more I looked, the less I liked. Stilleto Boy? His Pegasus World Cup third behind Life Is Good and Knicks Go is strong enough to win this. He doesn’t truly stay 1 1/4 miles, accounting for his distant third last out in the Santa Anita Handicap, and Stilleto Boy, too, produced a good breeze for the Californian. The whole thought process hinged upon beating favored Express Train – I think a lot of people are going to be taking this approach, which might just be entirely backward. :: Win big at Santa Anita: Get DRF Past Performances, Picks, Clocker Reports and Betting Strategies.  Warrant, whom Express Train really worked to beat in the Big Cap, came back with a tame fourth last weekend in the Ben Ali at Keeneland. Another way of considering these dynamics; Express Train is so tough and sharp right now that Warrant had the spark taken out of him and couldn’t relight it in time for Keeneland. Express Train has gotten extremely good. He beat Hot Rod Charlie while giving him two pounds in the San Antonio, thrashed overmatched rivals in the San Pasqual over this nine-furlong trip, and, like Stilleto Boy, doesn’t really, truly want 1 1/4 miles, yet still gutted out the Big Cap win. Express Train’s run from the furlong grounds to the wire in his April 24 work didn’t look anything like a horse taking a step back, and even at a short price, Express Train could offer fair value. San Francisco Mile The San Francisco Mile form comes from so many vectors it can be difficult keeping the horses straight. The older set with some proven Grade 3 form, Delaware and Restrainedvengence, lack appeal at this stage. Ecrivain makes his second start after being imported from France and has overseas performances solidly marking him a win contender. But between a relatively modest finish in his North American debut and a tough outside post, he’s an underlay at the expected price. Tom’s Surprise, a Northern California horse of modest origin, had a tremendous winter; his acceleration from the three-sixteenths pole to the sixteenth pole racing over Tapeta in a Jan. 16 allowance win was dazzling. He finished very fast again winning his subsequent start, then was third at 3-5 on March 27 – which led me to Jimmy Blue Jeans, that race’s winner. :: Want to start playing with a $510 bankroll and have access to free Formulator? Learn more Jimmy Blue Jeans and Get Her Number are the race’s only 4-year-olds and might also prove the two San Francisco Mile front-runners. Tiz Plus, who set a strong pace and was nailed late in his last race, could be held off the lead this time. Jimmy Blue Jeans is happy to lead but has taken a little hold and won from off the pace, too, and he appears to have more upside than anyone. With three wins from four grass starts, Jimmy Blue Jeans much prefers turf to Tapeta, his lone grass loss a pace-and-fade dud in the Grade 2 Del Mar Derby, run over a course playing against his speed. He not only makes the third start of his form cycle, but the work pattern strongly suggests connections plotted a path here soon after an encouraging March 7 win. Jimmy Blue Jeans is fresh, will get a good trip, and can improve enough to win at fair odds. Charles Whittingham Masteroffoxhounds never has been favored and might not be as short a price as he should in the Charles Whittingham. A strong comeback start March 25 allays concerns about the checkered race pattern from last June through the end of 2021. He got back to a 95 Beyer Speed Figure last out while racing at a one-mile distance short of his best. He has wins over 1 3/8 miles and a Grade 2 at this 1 1/4-mile trip and is perfectly positioned to jump up to a peak and assert his superiority over the rest of the Whittingham bunch.