Ten unproven colts will go to the gate at Santa Anita on Saturday for the 1 1/8 mile, Grade 3 Sham Stakes for 3-year-olds, a pre-lim to the Grade I Santa Anita Derby on April 3 and, more important, a big step toward earning entry into the Kentucky Derby on May 1. The winner will have to impress here in order to harbor a legitimate shot at eventually shipping to Louisville.

“Hope” is the key word in $150,000 Sham Stakes as only one of the 10-year-olds entered in the 1 1/8-mile race over the synthetic Pro-Ride surface at Santa Anita has stakes experience. Two colts from the barns of Hall of Fame trainers loom as the likely favorites and they could emerge as fresh-faced contenders on the road to Churchill Downs and the 136th running of the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (GI) on Saturday, May 1.

One is The Program, who is coming off a narrow victory over stablemate Indian Firewater in a Santa Anita allowance race and will be ridden by Martin Garcia. The latter returned to run second in last week’s Turf Paradise Derby. Owned by Thoroughbred Legends Stable, The Program ran fourth to another Baffert-trained stablemate, champion 2-year-old Lookin At Lucky, in Hollywood Park’s CashCall Futurity (GI).

Another likely to draw attention is Setsuko, a son of Pleasantly Perfect trained by Hall of Famer Richard Mandella. Setsuko has run five straight races at two-turn distances and Rafael Bejarano will be in the saddle.

Other contenders include Darley’s Kettle River, who brings a two-race winning streak into the Sham for trainer Eoin Harty; Nextdoorneighbor, a Mike Machowsky-trained son of Lido Palace who scored an impressive maiden victory at 1 1/16 miles last out; and trainer Ken McPeek’s Outlaw Man, a winner on grass in his last start.

Post Positions (Post Time: 4:07, 8th Race)