It was billed as the biggest weekend of racing so far this year, one that would say a lot about some of the early Kentucky Derby contenders. Sure enough, in four key prep races that took a total of less than eight minutes Saturday afternoon, the entire picture of the 3-year-old season was turned on its head. Several of the big horses – among them A fleet Alex and Rockport Harbor – faltered, while Sun King established himself as one of the top horses on the derby trail.

Running in the Tampa Bay Derby, Sun King covered the 1 1/16 miles in 1:43.98, just off the track record. With Edgar Prado up, the son of 1999 Derby winner Charismatic went right to the lead and set a modest pace. On the stretch, horses came at him from both sides, but Prado got Sun King going, and the horse repulsed his challengers. He cruised the stretch, opening up 3 1/4 lengths. He’s headed to the Blue Grass Stakes looking very good.

Sun King’s trainer, Nick Zito, ought to be commended for his wise handling of the horse. He has resisted hurling Sun King into the fray, instead looking for smooth victories that don’t take too much out of the horse. Sun King’s already solid reputation was enriched that much more by Saturday’s victory, and suddenly he has emerged as the most versatile and professional 3-year-old colt running.

Two horses that aspired to that title a mere week ago, Afleet Alex and Rockport Harbor, turned in disappointing runs in Saturday’s Rebel Stakes at Oaklawn. Afleet Alex, just off an impressive allowance win, ran well for most of the race, but hit a wall on the stretch and stopped running with a furlong and a half left: He finished last. The horse’s once-soaring stock has plummeted, and it’s worth remembering that Afleet Alex has only notched a great allowance victory at 6 furlongs – if that was enough to recommend you for the Derby, we’d have fields of hundreds.

Rockport Harbor, the formerly undefeated John Servis colt, pulled jockey Stewart Elliott right up out of his saddle and onto the early lead. Setting a slow but aggressive pace a few lengths in front, he raced on the lead until the far turn. It looked as if might just storm off into the distance, but the field reeled him in on the turn, and Greater Good stormed ahead with one-sixteenth of a mile left to go.

Rockport Harbor is likely to have only two races before the Derby, and he just blew one of them. He looks like he has to grow up before he can compete in the big races.

Consolidator, on the other hand, looks like the real thing after a record setting run in the 1 1/16 -mile San Felipe Stakes at Santa Anita.

The star-studded field of eight headlined by Wilko and Roman Ruler broke from the gate in a tangle. It had rained, and Wilko, winner of last year’s Breeders’ Cup Juvenile, joined a messy bit of traffic on the run to the first turn. The wildly anticipated and heavily-bet Roman Ruler, meanwhile, shoved himself up between horses and ran awkwardly.

Consolidator went well and ran just off the pace, ready to pounce on Lucky J. H. out front, as expected. He took the race on the stretch, and was driven home by jock Rafael Bejarano, opening up 6 1/2 lengths at the wire, a stakes record for margin of victory. Giacomo and Don’t Get Mad were the place and show horses.

Back up the track, Wilko had lost his heart for the stretch bid. Even further up the track, Roman Ruler was struggling, gave way, and trotted home dead last. This is still early on the Derby trail, and no doubt these horses will go to the Santa Anita Derby, but the road to Kentucky just got rockier. Like Rockport Harbor, Roman Ruler is bound to have only two races before the Derby, and running poorly in one of them is disastrous. There are a lot of horses on the trail this year, and the field is limited. If 26 horses want to run, the 20 with the highest earnings in graded stakes races get to go.

In the Gotham Stakes at Aqueduct, horses were coming out of the woodwork to make the stretch challenge. Survivalist, Pavo, Galloping Grocer, and Naughty New Yorker were all in it. Galloping Grocer made his move and began to pull away from the battle, but Pavo went with him, ridden without irons by Alan Garcia, who lost them when Galloping Grocer allegedly bumped him on the backstretch. Garcia’s whip hit Naughty New Yorker on the face (which ultimately caused Pavo’s disqualification). It was madness, but Survivalist eventually pushed to the clear.

Shug McGaughey, who trains Survivalist for the Phipps stable, won three races on the card that day – not a bad way to start the season. Still, McGaughey doesn’t think Survivalist wants to run at 1 1/2 miles, meaning that he is not really a Derby horse.

The same might be true of Galloping Grocer. The horse dominated the New York-bred scene last year, but that’s not the same thing as running in Grade I company. If he’s to prove that he’s classy enough for the Derby, he’ll have to blow the doors off the place in the Wood Memorial on April 9.