HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Save some cash for the Grade 3, $800,000 Southwest Stakes on Saturday at Oaklawn Park. It’s scheduled as the last of four Kentucky Derby preps being run around the country, and the 11-horse field that includes graded stakes winners Liberal Arts and Wynstock might make for the best betting race of them all. There’s no clear-cut favorite in the 1 1/16-mile points race (20-10-6-4-2) that is one of four stakes on a 12-race card that has a first post of 11:30 a.m. Central. Twelve horses were entered in the Southwest, but Maycocks Bay was scratched by trainer Michael Stidham on Friday after spiking a temperature. Liberal Arts invades from Kentucky. He launches his 3-year-old season off a win the Grade 3 Street Sense on Oct. 29 at Churchill Downs. “First start going two turns, I thought he was pretty impressive,” trainer Robbie Medina said. “All of last year, you could just see he was a horse that was wanting more distance. You never know until they do it. It was a sloppy track that day, and he was pretty impressive to come from last and win going away.” Wynstock won the Grade 2 Los Alamitos Futurity on the front end in his last start Dec. 16. He faces several other pace rivals in the Southwest. “They said the same thing about the Pegasus,” quipped his trainer, Bob Baffert, who won last weekend’s $3 million race with front-runner National Treasure. :: KENTUCKY DERBY 2024: Derby Watch, point standings, prep schedule, news, and more “This horse has a certain style,” Baffert said. “He’s a horse you’ve got to put him into the race. I’m not going to tell the rider to do anything different, just ride the horse the way he’s comfortable. I mean, the break is so important. He needs to leave the gate.” The unbeaten Carbone showed quickness out of the gate in his second career start last out. After breaking from post 8, he moved to a clear lead into the first turn of an entry-level allowance going a mile at Oaklawn. “He’s run very fast both times,” trainer Steve Asmussen said. “He’s a horse that trains with a lot of confidence. He is giving away quite a bit of experience in this race, but I feel very good about how fast of a horse he is and that he’s trained pretty consistently with Otto the Conqueror.” Otto the Conqueror is seeking his fourth straight following a sharp effort in the Springboard Mile on Dec. 15 at Remington Park. He’s since been based at Oaklawn, which lost some training time after a winter storm moved into the region Jan. 14. “I’m nervous because of missed training,” Asmussen said. “He ran a good race his first time two turns last out. He’s coming off three wins in a row. I loved our momentum, and then we went to jogging in the shed for 11 days. It’s not ideal. “He worked over the track with a lot of moisture in it last weekend, and it looks like there’s a strong possibility for more rain on Saturday. He’s caught an off track on multiple occasions.” Mystik Dan would be racing on a wet track for the first time. He was fifth last out in the Smarty Jones, two starts after winning a maiden special weight sprint at Churchill with a Beyer of 96. “I think he needed the race,” trainer Kenny McPeek said. “His best race was sprinting last fall and off that I probably ran him back too quick [in an allowance] and he coughed, had a lung infection. But he’s done really well down here. He’s a horse with a lot of talent. He still needs to figure out how to go long.” :: Bet the races with a $200 First Deposit Match + FREE All Access PPs! Join DRF Bets. Just Steel also is looking for his first two-turn win. He exits a runner-up finish in the Smarty Jones. “I really like his development,” trainer D. Wayne Lukas said. “I think his best races will be in April, May, and in the summer. I think he’s on the improve.” Awesome Road can take advantage if the pace is hot. He starts from post 12 for his first race since finishing fifth in the Grade 2 Kentucky Jockey Club on Nov. 25 at Churchill. “There’s some speed in there, it looks like on paper,” trainer Brad Cox said. “The post, I don’t love the post. It’s okay. We’re going to deal with it and make the best of it. “He’s trained very well at the Fair Grounds. If he runs the way he trains, I think he’s very competitive.” :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.