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A trio of contenders for the 2012 Kentucky Derby affirmed their position as ones to watch on the Triple Crown trail with solid performances over the weekend, but one big-name 3-year-old proved a a bit of a disappointment to bettors when stretching out to a longer distance for the first time.

Out of Bounds stamped himself as one to watch on the West Coast with a win in the Grade 3 Sham Stakes at Santa Anita over the heavily-favored Breeders' Cup Juvenile Sprint winner Secret Circle. Meanwhile, in New York, the well-regarded Alpha rebounded from a disappointing performance in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile last November to win in the Count Fleet Stakes at Aqueduct in his 3-year-old debut.

While the Count Fleet and Sham took center stage last weekend, perhaps the most impressive performance by a 3-year-old came in an Gulfstream Park Allowance race. Discreet Dancer, who set a new track record for 5 ½-furlongs at Gulfstream when winning his racing debut, came back and crushed his rivals going a flat mile Saturday.

A move up to the Stakes ranks figures to be next for Discreet Dancer, though no specific race has yet to be selected.

Interestingly, all three colts—Out of Bounds, Alpha and Discreet Dancer—are owned by the Darley/Godolphin operation of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum. The ruler of Dubai has never won the Kentucky Derby.

Out of Bounds, Alpha and Discreet Dancer all exited their races in good health and the question now is where will they take their next steps on the road to the Kentucky Derby.

Out of Bounds, who won the Sham off just a Maiden win, is slated to make his next start in the Grade 2 San Felipe Stakes at 1 1/16 miles at Santa Anita on March 10.

Given his pedigree, it will be interesting to see how Out of Bounds performs as the distances get longer. He is by Discreet Cat, who was brilliantly fast but only at a mile or less. His dam, however, is 2001 Breeders' Cup Distaff winner Unbridled Elaine, who was a long-winded type that relished longer distances.

Alpha certainly needed a strong performance in the Count Fleet to help erase the memory of his Breeders' Cup debacle and the colt obliged. He is slated to remain in New York and make his next start in the Grade 3 Withers Stakes on Feb. 4. The son of Bernardini out of Munnaya, by Nijinski II, doesn't figure to have any distance limitations as we move along the Triple Crown trail.

This weekend, the trail to the Triple Crown goes through Oaklawn Park where the $100,000 Smarty Jones Stakes will be run.