The door hasn’t closed on Greyvitos‘ classic hopes just yet.

The graded stakes-winning son of Malibu Moon  returned to the work tab Feb. 26 for the first time since undergoing surgery to remove a bone chip in a knee, covering three furlongs in :37 1/5 for trainer Adam Kitchingman at Del Mar.

Greyvitos’ connections hope he could return to the races by mid-April, in time to possibly squeeze in a Kentucky Derby prep race.

Greyvitos has been sidelined since his 2 1/4-length victory in the one-mile Remington Springboard Mile Stakes Dec. 17, an effort that came just over a month after he broke his maiden with a Bob Hope Stakes (G3) score Nov. 11 going seven furlongs at Del Mar. While Kitchingman stressed he won’t rush the issue, he is hopeful the grey colt could make a return to the races by mid-April, in time to possibly squeeze in a prep for the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1).

“He’s doing really good,” Kitchingman said. “It’s still too early to say, but (making the Derby) would be great. We X-rayed him last week and the vet was real happy with him, so we’re moving forward.”

One source of encouragement for Greyvitos’ connections while the colt has been on the mend is that the form of his victories has held up. In the Bob Hope Stakes, he bested eventual Smarty Jones Stakes victor Mourinho by 1 1/2 lengths. Finishing behind him in the Remington Mile was Combatant, who then posted runner-up finishes in both the Smarty Jones and Southwest Stakes (G3).

“You have to do the right thing by these horses and if it works out, it works out. If not, there are other races we can aim for,” Kitchingman said. “But I’m very happy with his progress so far.”

Owned by Triple B Farms, Greyvitos has won two of four starts and currently ranks 16th on the Kentucky Derby Leaderboard with 10 qualifying points. He was bred in Virginia by Audley Farm Equine out of the multiple graded stakes winning Najran mare Snow Top Mountain, and sold for $100,000 to Michele Boghossian/Triple B Farms through Brookdale Sales’ consignment to the 2016 Keeneland September yearling sale.

This article appeared in bloodhorse.com February 28th.